Results of a poker night
by White Angel of Auralon
Summary: Kami wants a soul back from shinigami. One angel makes a bet with the death god. If she wins against the god at poker, Shinigami has to resurect the soul. A little boy would be more than happy.
1. Chapter 1

Shinigami Sama sucks at poker

A fact known to nearly nobody was that even the gods had a weakness for gambling. Every six months Kami, Yami, Amaterasu and Shinigami would meet and have a night full of poker for high settings. Kami had plans for this specific poker night. She was very displeased that Shinigami had taken the soul of one of her best human warriors. And the greedy bastard wouldn't give her the soul back. But therefore she made a plan. An angel under her command had the devils luck at gambling. She would fill in for her when the bets got in the high regions. Yes, the plan was perfect. Shinigami wouldn't know what hit him. All she had to do was teasing him until he was so fed up that he would bet the soul she wanted. And so far all went according to the plan. There was the call she waited for. She excused herself for a few minutes to deal with the call and put Aohoshi one of the archangels as her proxy.

"Well what's the bet?" asked Aohoshi fully involved in Kamis plans.

"Well we should wait for Kami to return" began Shinigami.

"Afraid Shinigami Sama?" Aohoshi asked.

To question the gods braveness was a sure as hell way to get what she wanted. 'Men are so predictable.' She thought.

"Never Aohoshi. What did you think of?" Now Shinigamis pride was at stake.

"Well if you win, I will go on the date with you, you asked me for the last six months, if I win, I get one of the souls under your mercy. And I can choose which one and you resurrect him or her for me."

Shinigami pondered about the suggestion. He wanted this date with all his being. She had always denied him this date. And she was one of the most beautiful women he ever saw. Long silky brown hair. Smaragd green eyes. A perfect hourglass figure with a nice c-cup breast. Oh yes, this would be so worth the bet.

"Okay Aohoshi, I agree. Let's see who will win this game."

Amaterasu and Yami decided this game would be solely between the two. Yami shuffled the cards and dealed each one five of them. Not a single emotion could be seen on either of the contestants faces.

"Two new cards" Shinigami said. Yami gave the requested cards.

"One new card please" said Aohoshi. She got her card.

"Well this is all or nothing Aohoshi" Shinigami said. "Show."

Confidently he showed his hand. Four Queens a good hand.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I win" she said with a bright smile. She laid her cards open. Straight flush from jack of diamonds down to seven of diamonds.

"No, that can't be true" wailed Shinigami, while Yami and Amaterasu chuckled. It was predictable. Nobody was able to beat Aohoshis devil's luck at gambling.

Kami returned at this moment.

"What did I miss?" she asked innocently.

"I won a bet with Shinigami Sama Kami Sama and know he will give a soul under his command free and resurrect the person. And I know who to choose. I'm tired to just watch how these damned villagers treat the little boy I'm tasked to watch. I therefore ask for the resurrection of Minato Namikaze. He is probably the only one able to sufficiently protect his son." Said Aohoshi.

"A bet is a bet I will resurrect him Aohoshi" Shinigami said.

He held out his hand and a white light appeared. Slowly the light took form. A body became visible. At last there stood a blond man with striking blue eyes who was slightly disorientated.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In heaven, but that won't last long. To make a long story short, Shinigami Sama sucks at poker and lost to me. Therefore he had to resurrect you. I will take you back to your village" Aohoshi explained.

"Will I be able to see my son again?" interrupted Minato.

"He is the main reason I did this. I bet to go on a date with Shinigami Sama if I lost" she smirked while saying this, seeing the pout at the face of the death god.

"He needs you. I have looked after him as his guardian angel for the last three years, since the sealing, but I can only do so much."

"I missed three years of his life?" Minato asked. Kami and Aohoshi nodded. "When can we go?" he asked. Kami just snapped her fingers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Back in Konoha**

A bright light engulfed Minato and Aohoshi. Moments later they stood in front of a large wooden gate, Minato knew only too well.

"The entrance gates of Konoha" he mumbled. "I'm really back. I can't wait to see Naruto again."

Aohoshi smiled. Minato really loved his son, that was obvious.

"Where is he Aohoshi? I want to see him as soon as possible" Minato said.

"He lives at the orphanage" Aohoshi said. Minato was confused. Surely one of his old friends would have taken his son in?

"I can guess your question. Nobody besides the Sandaime, Jiraiya and Tsunade knows about Narutos heritage. And I will be honest. The village never respected your dying wish. Sarutobi had to tell the council of Narutos burden and the civilian side promptly screamed for Narutos execution to get rid of Kyubi. They see Naruto as the Kyubi. The Shinobi side is smarter. I highly suspect that Hiashi knows that you are Narutos father and if Shikaku ever lays his eyes on Naruto he will know as well. Smart bastard that he is."

Minato was furious. "They did what?" he yelled. They were in for so much pain, he would make sure of that.

"There were two attempts to adopt Naruto from Shinobi clans. The Sandaime tried to adopt him into the Sarutobi clan and Hizashi tried to adopt him into the Hyuga branch house, I suspect Hiashi to be behind it because he couldn't ask it for the main branch as the damned Uchiha was one of the supporters of the execution idea."

"At least my best friend tried to help my son" Minato growled.

"Yes he tried, but with the civilian council, the old teammates of Sarutobi and Danzou, who wants Naruto to become a weapon, thwarting all adoption attempts, there was no other choice than to give Naruto to the orphanage. And there the problems start. The council used the period before the Sandaime was reinstated after your death to increase their power and reduce that of the Hokage. Only a successor could change this. Corruption has taken foot at the council as the civilian side tries to influence shinobi decisions. The curriculum at the academy has been reduced to a level that civilian children can easily grasp. The quality of the Shinobi is still high, but the next absolvents of the academy will be weaker. The fail rate of the jonin senseis will increase dramatically, especially as Danzou takes in every talented orphan to his personal orphanage and trains them to become his root agents. Senseless killer machines. He says permanently that it is a grave mistake to lower the level of the academy. Only point the old warmonger is right about. If a war broke loose, the genin wouldn't stand a chance of surviving. Konoha will have a lot of problems if this continues. The people seem to forget that Orochimaru is still out there and you know Madara is still alive. That is a dangerous mix." Aohoshi explained the situation.

"I know and I will do everything to prepare Konoha for this, but first I will get my son, raise hell upon the council and will make sure that Naruto grows up loved as he always should have been. By the way, which date is it?"

"27th December" answered Aohoshi.

"Just after Christmas. Well, I think my return will be a late Christmas present for my son then. Perhaps I should go to see Sarutobi first. Then it will be easier to get Naruto."

Just as he said that and the two headed to the Hokage tower, they heard a painful scream for help. They turned into the direction the scream came from.

"Oh no, please no" Aohoshi said.

"We have to help whoever this was" Minato told her and ran into the direction the scream came from. Minato didn't know what was happening, but he would never let such a scream for help unanswered. Aohoshi was following directly behind him.

* * *

He ran as fast as his short legs would carry him. He didn't know why they hated him so much. This day turned out to be the worst of this short life so far. First the orphanage matron kicked him out, stating that they would not harbor a demon any longer. It didn't matter that he repeatedly swore he would never harm any of he other children and that he wasn't a demon. Then, five minutes after he stumbled to town, a mob of drunkards formed and stated they would kill the demon. He did nothing to them and despite this, they wanted to hurt him. He had tried to find the kind old man who the matron called respectfully Hokage Sama, when he visited the orphanage. When he was around, they were nicer to him, but only then. Tears streamed down his whiskered cheeks. He wanted to escape them. Why did nobody help him? A rock hit his shoulder. He screamed for help and in pain, but the hunters just laughed at his misery. He ran into a side street to lose his hunters only to see it was impossible for him to go farther. A huge fence separated him from the other side. And the only gate was closed with a heavy chain and a lock. Fearful he saw the gleeful villagers come nearer. He whimpered in fear.

"Now we have you cornered demon. We will finish what the Yondaime started three years ago. Sandaime Sama is a fool to allow you to live" one man said.

They charged at the boy only to see a yellow flash appear and then the boy was gone.

"What was that?" another man asked enraged.

Another yellow flash appeared next to a three pronged kunai they just now saw.

"You will die" the man that came with the yellow flash said.

For the villagers it was as if they saw a ghost. A very angry and scary ghost with hard, cold blue eyes and spiky blond hair.

"Nobody will hurt my son" the man said.

Faster than anybody could see the twenty hunters fell to the ground, kunai embedded in their corpses. Minato didn't even look winded. He left one of his signature kunai and disappeared with a yellow flash.

Only fifteen minutes later an Uchiha patrol came around to see if the damned demon brat was finally dead. They had orders to look away from the mob. But what they saw frightened them. All men where dead with a kunai only the Yondaime Hokage used in front of them.

"We have to report to Fugaku Sama at once. This is a great threat to Konoha if anybody discovered the Hiraishin no Jutsu." His colleague just nodded and he ran to get the commander of the military police.

On a nearby roof Minato knelt before Naruto, who was crying in fear.

"Shh, it's all right now. Nobody will harm you I promise. I will protect you Naruto." Minato said with a calming voice, inertly shaking with fury.

"Please don't hurt me" begged Naruto frightened.

Minato did the only thing he could think of right now and hugged his little son. He whispered soothing word into the sobbing child's ears.

"I won't hurt you. Never could I hurt you Naruto. I will protect you. Don't be afraid anymore."

Naruto clinged to Minatos jonin vest and sobbed hard and let go of his emotions. Minato held him and gently rubbed his back. It took Minato nearly fifteen minutes to calm Naruto so much that he looked at him.

"Will you really protect me? Don't you hate me like all the others?" Naruto asked desperately.

Minato saw mixed feelings in the toddlers' eyes. Sorrow, fear and hope.

"Yes I will protect you, I promise and I never break my promises. And I don't hate you, I love you very much Naruto. I was on my way to the Hokage tower when I heard your scream. I wanted to ask the Hokage to let me get you out of the orphanage. I want you to live with me."

"Really? You wanted to adopt me? Nobody wants that. They said I don't deserve a family." New tears built in his eyes.

Minato swore to himself that he would torture the caretakers at the orphanage for this. How could they tell a child, his son, that he doesn't deserve a family? By the way, why wasn't Naruto at the orphanage? It was late, he should be in bed, he was just three years old.

"Naruto, why are you not at the orphanage?" Minato asked. Naruto looked at his feet.

"The matron kicked me out and said they wouldn't harbor a demon any longer. But I don't know what that means."

Minato hugged Naruto again. Oh yes there would be consequences. Nobody did this to his son and got away. He was a peaceful man, but he was also a father.

"There is no need for me to adopt you, because you are my son Naruto. I'm so sorry, that I was forced to leave you alone the past years, but now, we will be a family again."

"You are my daddy?" Naruto asked weak. His voice trembled as he didn't dare to believe it.

"Yes I am." Minato smiled at him. Naruto saw this smile and threw his arms around Minatos neck.

"Daddy" he yelled and this time tears of happiness came from his eyes.

"It's okay my son, I won't let you alone again" he whispered in Narutos ear.

On a neighbored roof Aohoshi looked pleased at the reunited family. Her job was done and she could leave them to return to Kami to give her report.


	3. Chapter 3

**Meeting at the tower**

The Sandaime Hokage sat in his office tired from the day's business with the new treaty with Kumogakure. The ambassador of Kumo had arrived today and the meetings had been going on for hours. Now he just wanted to go home and rest. But fate seemed to hate him. From the ground floor of the Hokage tower a massive killing intent aroused. Immediately the Hokage shunshined from his office to see what was happening.

Minato was pissed and he showed it. It was late yes, but the behavior of the secretary at the entrance of the tower was not tolerable. The moment she saw Naruto, she began screaming on the top of her lungs that that beast should leave immediately. Minato knew at once that she was a Haruno. Only they were able to turn their voices in such a devastating screech. Also the pink hair was a dead giveaway. He had used a henge no jutsu to mask him. He didn't want to reveal his identity to anyone except Sarutobi at the moment. His features resembled those of his late student Obito Uchiha. Black spiky hair and black eyes, but his face was formed like that of a ninja he killed in the war with Iwa. Nobody would make a connection. He wore simple clothes. Black pants and a long-sleeved black shirt with a dark green vest. Like his old shinobi clothes but civilian style.

Naruto hid behind the legs of his father while covering his ears with his hands. This lady was scary. He wanted her to stop screaming, it hurt his ears. Then he felt a big wave of anger erupt from his father, and it was going against the scary lady. Only moments later the woman was pinned against the wall by his father and he was more than angry.

"If you ever dare to treat Naruto like this again you can be sure, I will know and then you won't get away with a simple warning. I won't stand this treatment any longer. Now get me the Hokage. I have some business to clear with him." Minatos voice was icy.

"And what business would that be stranger?" they heard a voice behind them.

"Jiji" Naruto called happily.

"Naruto? What do you do here? I thought you would be at the orphanage. It's late."

"That is part of the reason I'm here with him. Could we please talk in Private Hokage Sama? I don't want to reveal everything to these traitors." He sent a glare at the woman.

"Why do you call the people here traitors?" the Hokage inquired.

"Yes why?" Minato asked sarcastically. "Perhaps because they never even thought about fulfilling the dying wish of the Yellow Flash?" Minato could feel some of the ninja shuffling their feet uncomfortably.

Just this moment two figures stormed into the tower. One Minato recognized at once. How could he forget his student Kakashi Hatake? The other was one of the Uchiha clan.

"Hokage Sama" Kakashi shouted in slight panic. "Naruto he is…" he stopped his sentence as he spotted Naruto hiding behind the legs of a foreign man.

"He can come with us Hokage Sama, I don't mind him to listen to what I have to tell you. He seems to care for Naruto" Minato stated.

"Well, all right. Roharo, what do you want?" the Sandaime asked the Uchiha.

"We found a group of twenty dead people in an alley. We have already started an investigation but Fugaku Sama told me to report to you, that he thinks, that a shinobi was involved in the incident." The Hokage was worried.

"I want a complete report when the investigation is finished."

"Hai Hokage Sama" Roharo answered and vanished via Shunshin.

"Follow me to my office, we have a lot to discuss it seems" the Sandaime said to Minato.

He nodded and lifted Naruto from the ground into his arms. The Sandaime saw how comfortable Naruto was with this man and it made him uneasy. He had clouded Narutos heritage in mist to protect him from Minatos enemies. Could this man have found out? Did he want the power of Kyubi?

A few minutes later they sat in Sarutobis office.

"Before I begin, send your ANBUS away and activate the privacy seals in this room please" Minato said.

Sarutobi was now extremely cautious. How did this man know about the ANBUS? But he obliged. At least Kakashi would be there to help him and he was an ANBU captain himself. After activating the privacy seals, Minato stood up.

"Naruto, would you please stand next to me for a moment, so I can undo my henge?"

Naruto nodded. Minato undid his henge and Sarutobi and Kakashi didn't believe their eyes. Both immediately tried to undo this new henge no jutsu but failed. Naruto giggled at the stunned faces of the two men. He reached his arms for his father and he took him up again and sat down on a chair next to Kakashi. Minato used a pressure point on Narutos neck to let him fall asleep. He didn't need to hear this. Gently he laid the small boy on the couch in the office and removed his white cloak to cover his son.

"I believe you have a lot of questions. But first, I'm completely disgusted with the way my son has been treated in Konoha. I gave my life to protect everyone from the Kyubi more so, I sacrificed my son as his host and all I see is complete hate from the villagers. What is going on here? You are the Hokage Sarutobi. Why did you let this happen?"

"Minato?" Sarutobi asked eventually.

"Who else? Before you ask, an angel of Kami Sama won a bet against Shinigami Sama at poker. So he had to resurrect me. This angel was Narutos guardian angel these last three years and she couldn't stand Narutos treatment any longer. I found him on the streets where a mob chased him. Those are the same men the Uchihas found dead. I killed them for what they wanted to do to Naruto. By the way, the Uchiha patrols I passed when I rushed to help Naruto did nothing besides they heard his scream for help."

Sarutobi sighed. It was getting worse. There were tensions with the Uchiha clan for some time now. But that they would stand by and do nothing when a child needed help, that was unforgivable. He was so tired of this job.

"Next thing I find out is that the orphanage kicked my three year old son out, it's winter for Kamis sake, and told him things like he was a demon and wasn't worth to have a family. I just hope he don't have future problems because of this. But I will take him home with me and teach him personally. I know of the corruption of the council and you can be assured that I will raise hell upon them. Aohoshi, the angel I mentioned, told me that you and Hizashi Hyuga tried to adopt Naruto but the civilian council, Fugaku teme, with your advisors and Danzou stopped you. That by the way is the only reason I don't yell at you."

"I know Minato and I understand you. I tried everything I could think of, I made it law that nobody was allowed to speak of Naruto being the Jinchuriki of Kyubi so that he has a chance to make friends with kids his age. The problem is somebody blabbed and the secret got out to the villagers. The culprit was executed but the damage was done. I told the whole village of my law. Nobody speaks about it but the parents take their kids away. I was limited to send Kakashi and Tenzo to look after Naruto because the council has no insight on ANBU missions. Those two are the only ones I can trust blindly to watch over Naruto. I hoped things would get better once he enters the ninja academy. As your and Kushinas son he surely has inherited your talents" Sarutobi explained.

"After what I saw today I'm not so sure. I am rather convinced that a lot of the teachers would try to sabotage his education. And you can't send ANBUs to teach him that would be too obvious. But I have a few plans for myself to solve this problem. If by any chance you will be confronted with the deaths of a few corrupt councilors, don't think too bad of me, they had it coming. What some of them are doing is bordering treason. I will collect proofs and then execute my verdict. The best way would be to openly announce their crimes to the public. That will humiliate them additionally. By the way, who is in charge of the T & I department?"

"Inoichi Yamanaka, but he is training Ibiki Morino to take over in a few years" the Sandaime answered.

Minato got a devious smile. "Ibiki? That will be fun. I remember the kid, a sadist like no other. I'm sure I can convince Inoichi and Ibiki to help me collect proofs."

Now Kakashi, who had been stupefied by Minatos return spoke. His mind had to proceed that his sensei was alive again and that Naruto was his son. He had honored Minatos dying wish that Naruto should be seen as a hero for imprisoning Kyubi, but that information about the blond ball of sunshine was new to him.

"Sensei, what will you do because of Danzou and his ROOT ANBU? He was ordered to stop it, but we all know that he continues it."

"He will be an invaluable ally. Other than the civilian council, he really wants Konoha to become stronger. Just his ways of reaching this goal are wrong. Totally twisted. If you can't beat your enemies, ally yourself with them. Howl with the wolves but louder. I will contact him as soon as Naruto is safe in my mansion. I'm sure he will see my point of view. After all, I am one of the strongest Shinobi alive for a reason. If I offer him to cooperate to increase Konohas strength, he will be hardly tempted to take the offer." 'Next to the fact that the children in his orphanage have to be taught the way of the will of fire' Minato thought.

Sarutobi and Kakashi gave their best imitations of a fish as Minato told them his plans to ally himself with Danzo. How could he think he would be able to convince the man of his opinion?

"I'm not crazy if you think. Danzo has connections that will become very useful. And there are enemies out there we need to be strong to encounter. Orochimaru and Madara Uchiha at the top of the list."

"Wait Minato, Madara is still alive?" Sarutobi asked. "Yes, he was behind the Kyubi attack. He was afraid of me and wanted to get rid of me. The prospect of destroying Konoha during this was just a bonus to him. Man will he be furious when everybody finds out about my resurrection." Minato grinned evilly.

"I see" Sarutobi said. "By the way, do you want to retake your position as Hokage? I'm way too old for this and the paperwork is going to kill me one day."

"Oh come on, don't tell me that you still didn't figure out how to handle this little problem" Minato said unbelievingly.

"You know how to deal with it without going crazy?" Sarutobi asked hopefully.

"Of course I know. Did you think I wanted to spend my life with doing hellish paperwork day in day out? Kushina would have crucified me if I didn't spend an appropriate amount of time with her. Esecially during her mood swings when she was pregnant with Naruto" Minato shuddered at the thought. "I only went to the important meetings myself. The rest handled shadow clones. Neat little invention I must say."

Sarutobis reaction was interesting to say the least. He began banging his head on the desk and murmuring "Stupid, stupid, stupid" all over. Minato chuckled at the sight. Kakashi looked sheepish.

"For your question. Yes I will retake the position, even if the majority of Konoha doesn't deserve it. But I figure that in this position I will be able to protect Naruto best. But not immediately. I need some time and I have to plan how to make the takeover so that the council will regret how they made my son's life miserable."

Sarutobi and Kakashi knew for sure that there would be deaths. Nobody in his right mind angered the Yellow Flash and got away unharmed. And he wasn't just angry, he was furious.


	4. Chapter 4

**An international incident**

Minato exited the tower after two hours of discussion with the Sandaime. Naruto was still asleep in his arms. A black hooded cloak, courtesy of Kakashi, who was more than happy to have his sensei back, hid Narutos blond hair, his face wasn't visible to anybody. His henge in place again, Minato walked through the night. His destination was the Namikaze mansion he had inherited from his grandfather, who raised him after his father died on a mission when Minato was two years old. His grandfather and his wife were also the first Namikazes to come to Konoha. They weren't a clan, just a family, where the ninja business had tradition. Only after him becoming Hokage that had been changed as every family that produced a Hokage was given clan status and a council seat by law of the Shodaime Hokage. All the others had to have a certain number of members and abilities to gain clan status.

Approaching the wealthier part of the village Minatos senses worked intensely. It would be a problem if he was seen entering his mansion as the villagers weren't to be told about him for some time. Naruto slept peacefully in his arms. Minato smiled seeing his child's relaxed face. He would ensure that Narutos life would turn for the better. And if necessary he would kill to ensure this.

As he was about to pass the Hyuga compound, he saw a person climb over the wall seemingly it was a thief. But how could a thief enter the Hyuga compound undetected? And what did he steal? Minato merged with the shadows and produced a shadow clone to look after Naruto while he would stop the thief. Hiashi Hyuga was his best friend after all and it wouldn't be good for their friendship if he let a thief escape. He could have stolen delicate information. As Minato came near the stranger, he could see, that it was a man but he didn't hat a sack with valuables or some scrolls, he had a little girl under his arm.

Minato got angry. Thievery was one thing, but kidnapping was despicable like no other crime. He acted fast and threw one of his three pronged kunai next to the kidnapper and appeared with a yellow flash next to him. The man was too shocked to react in time and was knocked out by Minato so he could be brought to Inoichi for interrogation. Then he could see another man jumping over the wall and coming straight for them. Minato quickly took his kunai and put it into his pouch.

He was surprised to see Hiashi being the man that approached him and his prisoner. Hiashi looked at the scene. Minato was busy restricting the kidnapper with ninja wire so he couldn't escape. Then he saw the girl lying next to the kidnapper.

"Hinata" Hiashi said and knelt next to the girl to check her for injuries. "Thank goodness she isn't injured" he said soon.

Then he turned his face to Minato. "I have to thank you for rescuing my daughter" he said.

"It was my pleasure. I coincidentally walked this way, when I saw him coming over the wall and I investigated. When I saw, that he had kidnapped a girl, I sneaked up to him and rendered him unconscious for interrogation."

Hiashi nodded and pulled the mask of the face of the kidnapper. He was furious. It was the ambassador of the Raikage.

"Kumo tries to play dirty, they will see the consequences" Hiashi growled, trying to uphold his stoic face in front of this stranger. By the way, who was he?

"Could you please come with me to the Hokage, we have to report this. Kumo will have to pay for trying to kidnap my daughter."

Minato sighed. This seemed to become a long night.

"Of course. But let me first get my son to my house. I left him with a shadow clone back there" he pointed in the direction.

It would be useless to try and trick Hiashi. If he turned his Byakugan on him, he would be able to see through his henge immediately. And he was one of the few people he could probably trust with the truth. Hiashi looked in the direction and saw a person with a small kid come around. Seemingly the child was asleep but he couldn't make out any features because of the black hooded cloak.

"Do you want to take your daughter back home before we go to see the Hokage?" Minato asked.

"I would rather let her stay with me. I don't know if this was the only one who would try to kidnap her. I can't even understand how he was able to infiltrate the compound. It should be impossible without inside help. Therefore I prefer to take her with me."

"I understand. Then please follow me. My home isn't far away."

Hiashi nodded and followed Minato with Hinata in his arms. Minatos shadow clone took the kidnapper and left to the ANBU headquarters for interrogation. When they reached their destination Hiashi didn't believe his eyes. That was Minatos mansion they stood in front of.

"What?" asked Hiashi suspicious.

"Let's get inside, there I will explain" Minato stopped Hiashis question.

Checking if he lied and not seeing any deception on his face Hiashi agreed. Minato shifted Naruto in his arms so he could free his left hand and bit his finger. He smeared the blood on the seal at the gate and after a few seconds the gate opened. Minato stepped inside and Hiashi followed. The gate closed behind them. At the front door of the house Minato repeated the process and opened the house. He took a look around. It had paid of to put self cleaning seals all over the place. He had been too busy to keep the house clean and Kushina had hated this kind of work. He was a little sad at the thought of his late wife, but he would be strong for their son. He had been given a second chance he would use it.

He entered the living room und motioned Hiashi to take a seat at the couch. He sat and locked his eyes on Minato who laid Naruto on another couch, took away the cloak and put a blanket over his son.

"Okay, I think you want to know how I can enter the Namikaze mansion right?" he asked.

"Indeed" Hiashi responded.

"All right, but you must promise me that you won't tell anybody besides the Hokage and Kakashi as they already know Hiashi." Minato dropped the henge.

"Minato?" Hiashi was shocked. "How is this possible? You are dead, I saw your dead body before the funeral."

"I was dead Hiashi. I was resurrected by the death god just today. And to be honest I'm pissed at the way Konoha treated my son. But that will have to wait until a later date. But I can assure you, I will see that there will be consequences. I didn't ask for the impossible, just that my son was treated like the hero he is for ensuring the imprisonment of the Kyubi. Hell, if he had been treated like any other child, I wouldn't be this furious."

Hiashi could feel the killing intent that emanated from Minato. He was sad that he hadn't been able to help Naruto more but the civilian council had blocked every attempt to help the boy.

"I know that you tried to adopt Naruto in the Hyuga clan through your brother and I'm grateful for this. You can be sure there will be some very interesting meetings with the council in a few days. I just need to collect some proof." Minato grinned evilly.

"I'm looking forward to it. Those fools meddled enough with the affairs of the ninjas in this village." Hiashi couldn't other that snicker. He had his best friend back and things would be very interesting in the near future.

"What about Danzo?" Hiashi asked knowing that the leader of ROOT would be the biggest problem.

"I plan to turn him into my ally. I know one thing for sure, he is absolutely loyal to Konoha and wants the village to be strong, the strongest amongst the great nations. Only his ways to reach this goal are twisted. He has some valuable ideas that I intend to realize, a better schooling system at first. We can't let our children be unprepared for wartimes when there are enemies outside of the caliber of Orochimaru or Madara Uchiha. Yes Madara is alive" Minato said, reading Hiashis surprised expression. "He was behind the Kyubi attack. We will strengthen Konoha at all areas and for this, I will ask Sensei Jiraiya to retrieve my mother."

"Your mother Minato? I thought after your father died, you became an orphan. I mean you grew up with your grandparents."

"That's true Hiashi, but do you know the name of my father?" he asked.

"No, I thought you were uncomfortable to speak about it, so I never asked."

"His name was Dan Namikaze. He and my mother weren't married, just engaged. I was born during the second shinobi world war and if word got out, I would have been the prime target for my mother's enemies. She was too well known."

Realization dawned on Hiashis face. "Oh my god, Tsunade?"

"Yes Tsunade Senju is my mother. For security reasons I got my father's surname. I think when she learns that I'm alive again and that she has a grandson she can spoil it won't be a problem to get her to return to start a medical education program like she wanted during the war."

Hiashi had to digest this information. His best friend was directly related to two of the former Hokages and one of the Sannin.

"Do you intend to drop this bomb on the council?" asked Hiashi.

"What do you think?" he asked grinning. "What better way would there be to punish them for the treatment of my son than to drop the wrath of an angry grandmother, who just happens to be one of the Sannin on them? My killing intent is nothing compared to my mother's. They are directly responsible for the mistreatment of the heir to two clans of Konoha as Naruto is the heir to the Namikaze clan, the Senju clan and on top he is the grandson of the current king an queen of whirlpool. Kushina was their youngest daughter. The daimyo will be more than displeased to hear this. I heard you have very good connections to the royal court?" Minato asked innocently.

"Sometimes you can be really cruel but I understand you completely. When do we start?" Minato looked at him.

"Did you think I would let you do this all alone Minato? You are my best friend. I will help you with collecting the proof needed and then I will sit in my council seat and enjoy the show you will set up. But another issue. What do you think will be the best way to handle Kumo?"

"Send them one of my three pronged kunai and remind them that it is very ill advised to make the yellow flash angry."

"It's really good to have you back Minato" Hiashi said smiling.

It didn't take the two men long to explain everything to the Sandaime. He was angry at the attempt to kidnap Hinata.

"Where is Hinata now?" Sarutobi asked.

"At my mansion" Minato answered. "The building and the grounds are completely secured with my strongest seals. Nobody below my level as a seals master will be able to disable them" Minato explained.

"Very good. Hiashi I think you want to return to your clan and start an investigation how the ambassador of Kumo could enter. I think you are right if you think that he must have had inside help" Sarutobi said.

"Yes thank you Hokage sama" Hiashi said and bowed. "Minato, can Hinata stay for the night at your mansion? It would ease my thoughts when I knew nobody could do anything to her."

"No problem Hiashi but won't she be scared when she wakes up and is in an unknown place?"

"I will send Hizashi to look after her. He is the only one I trust enough to not try anything against her. Especially as I managed to suspend the sealing of his son Neji."

"Do you still have this idiotic practice in your clan? I thought you wanted it to stop" Minato grumbled. He hated the practically slavery of the branch house of the Hyuga clan. That was not the way how you treated your family.

"It's not that easy Minato. The elders oppose me in this with all their might. It would need a quick strike to free all members of the branch family of the seal without them recognizing it until it's too late. Or something that would overrule the clan laws."

Minato nodded knowing Hiashi was right. "Tell Hizashi to come to my mansion in half an hour, I will await him" Minato said. Hiashi nodded.

Minato concentrated and disappeared in a yellow flash.

"Things will change with him back here" Hiashi said happy.

"Yes, I'm glad he is back. I'm too old to be the Hokage" Sarutobi sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Friend**

Hinata stirred in her sleep. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. First she only thought she was still asleep but then she saw that she wasn't at her room at her clan's compound. She panicked and ran to the door. She tried to reach the door handle but it was too high above her. She looked for another exit but the window was too high to climb outside. Frightened she sat down on the bed and hugged her knees. She cried when she heard steps in front of the door. The door opened and a blond man, she never saw before entered.

"Ah you are awake Hinata that's good. You don't need to be afraid" he said smiling. "My name is Minato and I am a friend of your father Hiashi. He is at your clan compound and investigates how it was possible that the man who tried to kidnap you could enter undetected."

Hinatas eyes widened in fear. "Hey, it's okay, we got the man and he is in prison right now. He can't hurt you anymore." Hinata nodded weakly. "By the way, your uncle Hizashi will be here in I think ten minutes or so to explain everything to you. Your father asked me if you could stay here for the night because he doesn't know how it was possible that somebody entered your home. Do you want to come down with me? My son would be happy to meet you."

"O-Okay" Hinata said unsure if she should believe the man. But if her uncle would come in a few minutes it surely would be all right.

Down in the living room Naruto was awake and inspected everything around him. It was fascinating for him, that he would live in this big house with his father. The living room he awoke in ten minutes ago was huge. But it gave him a feeling of warmth. The furniture was hold in a light sort of wood he hadn't seen ever before. There were closets, shelves with lots of books on them, two couches of black leather with white comfy cushions on them, two armchairs of the same look as the couches and a glass table in the middle of them. He saw a big television set. On some of the shelves were photos of some people. The only one he recognised was a picture of his father with three teenagers. One of them looked a lot like the grey haired man he saw at the entrance hall of the tower his father called Kakashi if he remembered correctly. He was so happy, he couldn't stop to grin. It was still strange for him to have a father. All the caretakers at the orphanage had been wrong. His father loved him and he said he wasn't a demon like they told him. He heard steps at the stairs and ran to the door to look. There was his father with a girl with dark hair and nearly white eyes. That kind of eyes he had never seen before. And there had been a lot of different children at the orphanage.

His father and the girl came over to him. His father smiled at his curious face.

"Naruto, this is Hinata Hyuga. She is the daughter of my best friend Hiashi Hyuga the head of the Hyuga clan. She will stay with us for the night as Hiashi has an investigation to run."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"There was a bad man who tried to kidnap Hinata and before Hiashi doesn't know how he got inside it will be safer for Hinata if she stays with us."

"Why?" Naruto asked again.

"Because our house is the safest in the whole village." Minato explained.

"Why?"

Minato thought this could take a while. His son used the possibility to ask as many questions as possible.

"Because there are seals all over the place that can't be broken by anybody but a sealmaster as strong as me and there are only very few who are at my level."

"What are seals daddy?"

'At least he didn't ask why' Minato thought. "Seals are a special art ninjas use. Like ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu which are the three basic arts. Seals have different uses. You can store things in a scroll to transport them easier if you use a storage seal. Then there are seals that can make things explode. They are called exploding tags. You can blind people with flash seals. And that are just a few. There are nearly no limits to the use of seals except the imagination of the seal master. If you understand how to make them you can do a lot of things."

Naruto looked at his father in awe. Then he looked at Hinata who seemed to be afraid. Naruto decided to try to get to know the other child. He never had had the possibility to befriend another child due to the caretakers who isolated him from the other children at the orphanage. And this girls father was a friend of his father. Surely he was okay with him befriending her?

"Hey I'm Naruto, do you want to play?" he asked.

Hinata looked at him and found herself captured in his deep blue eyes. She never before felt like she could trust somebody so fast as it was the case with Naruto.

"I'm Hinata, I would like to play" she said quietly but Naruto heard it all the same.

"Yeah, what do you want to play?" he asked bouncing with energy.

"Naruto, please stay in the house for playing okay? It's already dark outside and I don't want you to get lost in the darkness" Minato said.

Naruto looked at his father and nodded. He looked questioning at Hinata who seemed to be afraid for some reason.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"It's just…" Hinata tried to explain. Minato seemed to read her thoughts.

"Is it because you don't want to be alone in a place you know nobody?" he asked kindly. Hinata nodded.

"I have a suggestion. Why don't you two come with me and I show you the house? You haven't seen very much of it yourself Naruto. When we are done Hinatas uncle Hizashi should be here to tell her what is happening at her family's compound."

Naruto nodded and Hinata followed after a little while. Naruto enthusiastically took her hand. "Let's go daddy" Naruto said. Minato couldn't help himself but grin at the cute picture in front of him.

They needed the rest of the time until Hizashi showed up for Minato to show the two children the ground floor of the mansion. It consisted of the living room, a storage room for kitchen supplies, a bathroom, the training dojo, a meditation room and the kitchen which was as big as the one in the orphanage which was build so they could cook for nearly two hundred children. Naruto asked his father why the kitchen was so big.

"Well Naruto, while the Namikaze hadn't been a clan until a few years ago, we always had a lot of people who did business with us due to our natural talents with seals. It's a family tradition to learn about them. So there often were large groups of people who came over for dinner. That and my grandmother always loved to invite lots of friends for parties. She was a great cook." Naruto nodded.

"Daddy are there more Namikazes?" Naruto asked him.

"Yes Naruto but only one. We three are the last of the Namikaze. But we have a few other relatives." Naruto looked interested.

"Why did they never show up?" he asked finally with his head down. Hinata looked at Naruto not knowing why he seemed to be so sad.

"Naruto?" she asked carefully. "Why are you sad?"

"It's just that I have been alone for as long as I know" Naruto said whispering.

Minato knelt down before him and hugged him. "That is in the past. I will do everything I can that you will never be alone again Naruto" he said assuring.

He stroked Narutos back. Naruto nodded. It was a great feeling when his father held him. He felt completely safe. It was a completely new feeling but he didn't want it to end.

"I also want to help you. I don't want you to be alone" Hinata said as Naruto and Minato ended the hug.

"Really?" Naruto asked the girl. She nodded while looking shyly at the floor. "Thank you Hinata" he said and hugged the girl.

Hinata got a strange feeling. On one side it felt good, on the other she was extremely nervous. Why, she couldn't figure out.

Minato saw Hinatas behavior and instantly knew that she had inherited the shy personality of her mother in her younger years. It would be hard for the girl in her position as heiress to the Hyuga clan. Hopefully she wouldn't break during the harsh training. Perhaps his seemingly hyperactive son could help her. He continued to show them the rest of the ground floor.

"This is the training dojo of our family. My father built it when he became a ninja. He wanted a place where he could train in secret when he developed new techniques" Minato explained.

The children looked at the large room that was laid out with tatami mats. In one corner were training utensils, in another was a closet for towels. Then there were two training posts for different uses.

"I used this dojo regularly" Minato told them with a smile.

"Did you invent techniques Minato Sama?" Hinata asked politely.

"There is no need to call me Sama Hinata. I'm not that old. Just call me Minato. And yes I invented some techniques."

"Please daddy, can you show us?" Naruto asked curiously jumping up and down in anticipation.

Minato thought for a while. "Sure, but I can't show you the full force of one because it's too dangerous. This is the first one" he took a three pronged kunai out of his pouch and threw it to the other side of the dojo. In a flash of yellow he disappeared and reappeared next to his kunai. "This is my Hiraishin no jutsu" he explained. "It allows me to travel to the kunai I threw in the blink of an eye. It was this jutsu that got me my nickname the yellow flash of Konoha." Hinata seemed to remember something.

Her eyes grew wide. "Minato are you the Yondaime Hokage?" she asked. Minato scratched the back of his head while grinning.

"Yes I am."

"Wow, why didn't you tell me daddy?" Naruto asked.

"It wasn't the right time. I mean I just returned today and then there were enough other things which were more important at the time. I would have told you later." Naruto nodded, seemingly okay with the answer.

"You said there are some relatives, who are they?" Naruto asked.

"Well, first there is my mother Tsunade, your grandmother. I hope she will return to Konoha when she finds out that we are still alive. She left because she thought that we were dead."

"But why would she think that?"

"Well, the reason I couldn't be with you was that three years ago on the day you were born the Kyubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha. Why; nobody knew at the time. I was able to defeat Kyubi but it was at a high price. I could just return today."

"Where were you?"

"I will tell you when you are older. It's a bit complicated." Naruto pouted. Minato ruffled his hair. "Well aside from your grandmother there is my cousin Shizune. She is Tsunades apprentice. You must know your grandmother is the best medic nin there is."

"What is an apprentice daddy?"

"A student who gets more intensive training from his master. Normally you learn in groups of three genin when you graduate from the ninja academy. You have one jonin sensei who teaches the three genin. But an apprentice most of the time is the sole student of this jonin. And then the teacher teaches his own special things and not only the general things a ninja must know to survive."

Naruto nodded. He kind of understood this. "Can I become a ninja too daddy?" he asked enthusiastically.

"If you really want it of course you can Naruto. You come from a family who had many exceptional ninjas I'm sure you have talent" Minato said kindly. Narutos smile could have illuminated the night.

"Hinata will you become a ninja too?" Naruto asked then.

"Well I think yes. My family members are almost all ninja."

"That would be great, than we can learn to be ninjas together." A small red tint was recognizable on Hinatas cheeks. She nodded and smiled. Naruto thought she was cute with this smile.

Then Naruto remembered something. "Hinata, do you know any games to play in the house?"

"No not really. There are not many children my age in the Hyuga clan, just my cousin and he is a year older and I just met him today. I never really had somebody to play with."

She seemed to be disappointed. Naruto could understand the look. While he had lived with lots of children he never was allowed to play with them.

"Then we can play together from now on and perhaps we can make our own games. I only know some for outside which I could see when the other kids in the orphanage played. Do you want?"

Hinata looked at him and saw he was unsure. She just nodded. It would be nice to have somebody to play with and Naruto seemed to be a nice boy. When she nodded Minato could see that a great weight fell from Naruto. He knew his son wanted a friend more than anything else. And aside from his own friend's children it would be hard to find some with all the prejudices the villagers held.

This moment the doorbell rang. "I think this is your uncle Hinata. Let's go and welcome him." The children nodded. All three went to the entrance hall to greet Hizashi.

* * *

Hizashi was in a kind of stupor. His brother had taken him aside when he came home from the Hokage and told him he needed him for a special job. Hinata had been kidnapped and was now at the mansion of a friend because he didn't know who he could trust in the clan until he was trough a thorough investigation. To ensure that Hinata wasn't totally frightened because she doesn't know his friend, he should look after her. But what Hizashi didn't expect was the fact that he stood now in front of the Namikaze mansion. The last Namikaze was dead for three years. Well or that was what the public knew. His son was just three years old and lived under a different name to protect him from his father's enemies. Damned civilian part of the council. If it hadn't been for them Naruto would have a happier life. He could grow up with his son Neji and his niece Hinata.

Why did Hiashi sent him to Minatos mansion? Well he would see. He rang the doorbell and waited. Soon he saw three figures approach the gate. One was an adult two were children. He suspected one had to be Hinata. When the gate opened Hizashi was shocked. He never thought he would see this face again.

"Come in and hurry. I will explain inside" Minato said quietly. Hizashi nodded and the three went back inside the house.

When they sat in the living room Minato explained again to Hizashi what had happened while Naruto and Hinata played with a ball in the training dojo.

"So that's the story. I'm alive because Shinigami sama sucks at poker. I don't know who has the worse luck him or my mother" he said laughing.

"I understand but it is a lot to take in."

"That's for sure. By the way as we have some time to kill until Hiashi is finished with the investigation, can you tell me some of the important things that happened in Konoha the last three years?"

"Of course Minato. Well to start it, the council forced some changes in the command. They seem to think that they can overrule the Hokage and make him a figure head. As the Sandaime is old, he just tries to keep the peace between opposing groups. He clearly wants to pass the responsibility for the village to someone younger. But without you there were no suitable candidates. But that leads to more problems as they use his softness for their benefit. Corruption his growing and that is never a good thing. Danzo tried to reason with the Sandaime that we can't afford to lose strength especially after the losses of the Kyubi attack. But it was not successful. Due to this I think he intensified to build up his ROOT unit. He opened his own orphanage where the children are trained to be ninjas. The only problem is he is overdoing it."

"Yes I know. I will talk with him soon. If I can manage to reason with him, he can become an invaluable ally. I know that it can be lethal to show emotions at the battlefield but in private you are doomed without them. You need a balance between the two."

Hizashi nodded. "The competition between the Hyuga and the Uchiha has reached new heights. The Uchiha bastards think that due to their eyes they are unbeatable. This is infused by their newest prodigy Itachi. He is just eleven and already chunin on the best way to jonin. His Sharingan is fully developed but I think he is a pleasant exception to the normally high headed Uchiha. He actually worked for his abilities. That is the reason why the ANBU has their eyes on him."

"How do you know Hizashi?"

"Well, if you weren't Hokage I weren't able to tell you but I am ANBU captain myself. Hiashi covers me, the elders of the clan don't know or they would throw a fit" he chuckled.

"Damn those bastards. They should be proud to have an ANBU captain in the clan. It's an honor."

"If I was a main house member possibly but I am the head of the branch house so I can't be better than the main house or so they think."

The two children chose this moment to turn up. They seemed to be tired.

"Finished with playing?" Minato asked kindly. Naruto nodded and yawned.

"Hinata and I are hungry and thirsty Daddy" Naruto told him.

"Then let's go to the kitchen and get you two something. I hope there are some rests that haven't expired yet. Well tea will be right."

Minato took Naruto up into his arms and Hizashi took Hinata. After a while the two sat at the floor of the living room eating some quickly cooked noodles and drinking tea. Minato made a mental note to go shopping the next day. He needed groceries and he had to buy some clothes for Naruto. The ones that were in his room were meant for an infant not a toddler. When the children finished the two adults took them upstairs to the second floor where the room Hinata stayed before and Narutos room were. After a quick visit to the bathroom where Minato added a toothbrush and toothpaste to his to buy list, he and Hizashi tuck the children in bed and left them there to sleep. Naruto was too tired to really take in the look of his room. That would be a thing he would do tomorrow. He was asleep after a few minutes with a smile on his face. This day which started as the worst of his life had turned out to be the best. His father came back; he had a new home and made a friend with Hinata. Minato smiled happy at his sons sleeping form and closed the door quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**An ally**

In his secret office Danzou pondered over his future plans. Sarutobi was making a mistake to let the civilians take so much control over ninja business. He was once a great warrior and Danzo respected his old rival for that. He had a lot of his strength left but his will was wavering. It had been the right decision to step down and let a younger candidate take over. While he would have preferred Orochimaru for his hardliner view of things it was impossible to overlook his experiments on citizens of Konoha. It was foolish to weaken the village like that even if some of the experimets might have been successful. That fool should have used criminals instead. Then he would have continued to support him.

Minato Namikaze was not his favorite but he couldn't deny that the man was strong. Better he was feared in their enemy's countries. Nobody in their right mind would have dared to oppose the yellow flash. And when necessary he would kill without hesitation. Yes he had been able to arrange himself with the Yondaime Hokage. But the actual situation was a problem. He wanted Konoha to become strong again after the Kyubi attack. They had lost too much. A lot of their best shinobi and on top Namikaze himself. With him fell their best enemy repellant. It was just luck that Kumo and Iwa were weakened from the war and not able to capitalize the weakness of Konoha. Kiri was undergoing the bloodline purge and Suna was their ally. For the moment everything was under control. But he had a feeling that the Raikage had plans that went over a truce when he sent his ambassador to Konoha. Thinking that he wouldn't figure it out in the office he stood up to return to his home.

* * *

Minatos shadow clone was positioned at the periphery of Danzo's home. He wanted to contact the man when nobody would see it and the best option was at night when he returned from whatever he was doing. He had waited for three hours already when the man arrived. When he came in a distance of thirty yards he stopped.

"Come out whoever you are" Danzo said calmly.

"I will if you send your three dogs at a distance of hundred yards away. They can see you but won't be able to listen to us. I have a proposition for you Danzo" Minatos shadow clone answered.

Danzo thought about it. The distance wasn't enough to be a threat to him. The little time until his men would need to cross it won't be enough to kill him.

"I agree" Danzo said.

His three hidden bodyguards sprang out of their hideouts and out the asked distance between them and their leader. Minato came out of his hideout under a henge.

"I'm glad you agreed to listen to me. I think my proposal will benefit both of us and Konoha in its completeness. I heard that you strive to strengthen Konoha but were put down from your plans by the Hokage and the council."

"That's correct. I think it is a grave mistake to not prepare our young ninja for the real world outside the safety of the village especially after the Kyubi attack ripped huge holes in our numbers. We can't produce ninjas in sheer numbers because this needs time but we can ensure that our ninjas make up for the lack of quantity with quality. But the civilians lowered the education levels that worked well during the wartimes to a ridiculous level. The graduation exams consist of three low level jutsu like Kawarimi, henge and Bunshin from them one is chosen. On top of that the students have to pass a written exam which consists mostly of history and chakra theory on low levels. How will they be able to defend Konoha properly? If the heroes of the war had been educated on that level we never had won the war."

"I agree with you that this is devastating for Konoha as a whole. I heard you took counter measures in secret. What I want to propose is to take your actions to the public and make your retired ROOT agents teachers at the academy. They will be able to prepare the students. I want to make clear that my goal is a strong Konoha that still keeps his unique ability to feel with others. Devastating in battle, caring in private. That will give the customers a good opinion and our enemies will think twice before they even think about an attack."

"That all sounds good but how will you realize this? The civilian council will threw a fit and as they used the time between the death of the Yondaime and the reinstatement of the Sandaime to raise their powers it will be impossible especially as Sarutobi don't want to argue with them. He lost his will to be a strong leader. He is still a capable shinobi but the time he spent as Hokage drained his energy. He isn't even able to protect the boy that could be the greatest asset to our forces if trained correctly."

"You mean Naruto Uzumaki right?"

"Yes. I'm sure you know why I can't speak open about his condition but it will become a danger to Konoha if he isn't trained to control his given powers."

"While I agree with this, I will never allow for him to become an emotionless killer machine. As I said we have to keep balance between not showing emotions in battle and not having them. The greatest heroes of Konoha were able to do this professionally like the first and second Hokages, the white fang or the yellow flash. You yourself should think about it. Emotionally stable ninjas are better ninjas. And you won't have as many candidates that aren't able to stand the stress. The bloody mist has shown as much. After Zabuza Momochi killed the entire graduation class they changed their educational system because it was a waste of talent. What I plan is a very effective use of our resources. Less deaths of shinobi and Kunoichi means less compensation for the losses. We already had enough as you stated. And for how I will achieve it, well, let's just say the council will be surprised when a hero returns." He smirked.

Danzo's thoughts were racing. The things this man said sounded really good. The idea to use the retired ROOT agents to teach the children at the academy was brilliant. And if he could do his best to protect Konoha openly it would even be better. He would still sustain his spy network. One could never have too much information. But the man's identity was an enigma. He seemed to be connected to the Jinchuriki emotionally otherwise he wouldn't have said that he wouldn't allow for the boy become emotionless. His opinion of the way a ninja should be didn't match his but it was tolerable. As long as a ninja didn't show emotion on the field it would suffice. And he had to admit it would be good public relation when the ninjas were seen as humans by the clients. Then they would put in more mission requests. But it left the problem of the currently nearly figure head Hokage.

"Your proposal has its merits but I can't see how this will be possible with the Sandaime being the figure head the council made him into. Without a successor, who can change the working processes it won't be realizable. And I don't see any suitable successor for Sarutobi at the moment. There are some promising young ninjas that can be able to do the job in a few years like Itachi Uchiha or Kakashi Hatake, but they lack experience and are way too young. In ten years they could be ready. I mean Itachi is eleven and Kakashi is seventeen. And that is too late to do what you proposed. And the Sannin, who would be able to be Hokage, left Konoha to lick their emotional wounds. It was a problem when the Yondaime was chosen. Orochimaru was too ruthless and the only other candidate Minato Namikaze who became Hokage is dead after he sacrificed his life to defeat Kyubi. And Orochimaru is a traitor now."

"Ah yes you are right but what would you say if there was a candidate as strong as the Yondaime? Would you support him?"

"I would know if Konoha had someone this strong" Danzo replied.

"That doesn't answer my question" Minato said.

"Well if there was somebody who were as strong as the Yondaime Hokage that shared my opinions that Konoha needs to be strengthened then I probably would support him."

"Very well. I will prepare for the next step. Be ready in a week. There will be a meeting of the council in which I will reveal how to realize my proposal. Be sure it will be a great show of power. After it our goals will start to be realized."

"You are an interesting fellow. Mind telling me your name?"

"Well for the moment you can call me Arashi. You will find out everything else during the meeting. Until then" he said and poofed in a cloud of smoke.

"Well that was interesting. I will investigate this Arashi" Danzo said and walked for his home.

* * *

Minato received the memories of his Kagebunshin ad smiled. That had been easier than he had thought. Danzo seemed to be an invaluable ally. The first steps had been done. Now all he needed to do was getting proof for the treason of the council to get them removed from their posts. He had a list of all councilors and the decisions they made by Hizashi who just wanted to get the civilian council back for meddling with ninja affairs and making Narutos life a living hell.

"So if I understand this correctly, the main actors on the civilian council are Saisa Haruno, Makato Trenoma, Hikaru Hatakane and Takama Kanimoto. They are the leaders the other three follow their lead. Then there are Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane of the elder's council and Fugaku teme Uchiha on the ninja council."

"Yes. Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, Hiashi, Tsume Inuzuka, Shibi Aburame and Asuma who represents the Sarutobi clan for the Sandaime are their counterparts. Danzo has his own opinion and normally voices this but never got a majority because the civilians mess around with the help of Koharu and Homura. Our problem is that we are at a disadvantage as long as the seats of the Senju clan and of the Namikaze clan are not taken. But with you being back we have at least the Namikaze seat filled."

"Yes and when Sensei Jiraiya finds my mother and she returns the civilian council is at a disadvantage as she will fill the Senju seat and sensei Jiraiya has a seat at the civilian side. Then the shinobi side has more votes, Danzo's vote included. Even if Fugaku teme votes against us. And when it will be revealed that I'm not only a Namikaze but also a Senju, I can represent both clans if it should be necessary. But my next move will be infiltrating the houses of the councilors and collecting proof."

"How will you do this?"

"Well toads are very good spies. Once inside they can find a lot of information. Especially when they have enough time. And I intend to produce a fantastic distraction tomorrow."

"What have you planed Minato?"

"Well let's just say it would be unwise to go near the shopping district at noon."


	7. Chapter 7

**Shopping, cat and punishment**

Early the next morning Minato waked Naruto. He was still sleepy as he had been up long the last evening.

"Hey good morning sleepyhead" Minato greeted smiling.

"Uh?" Naruto asked. Then he suddenly panicked. "No I didn't oversleep please don't punish me" he said holding his hands over his head.

Minato flinched and put his hand gently on Narutos back. "You don't have to be afraid Naruto. I won't punish you for oversleeping."

Naruto relaxed at the voice. Then he lowered his arms.

"Daddy" he said and smiled brightly. "It wasn't a dream. You are really here."

"Yes I am." He hugged Naruto who leaned into the hug sighing happily.

"Get ready Naruto we want to have breakfast and then we will bring Hinata home."

"Ah I remember. Yes I now have a friend."

"Yes you have. And it won't be nice to let your friend wait for breakfast."

"Yeah let's go daddy."

Naruto jumped out of his bed and looked around for his clothes. His mouth was wide open when he looked at the room. It was a nice room with two orange and two yellow painted walls. There was a desk with a chair and shelves above. On the shelves were some books and some plush animals. A dark red toad, an orange fox and a blue dolphin. Then there were blocks in different colors. Papers, wax crayons and pencils to draw were on the desk.

"Do you like it? Your mother Kushina prepared this room for you when she was pregnant with you."

"Yes I love it daddy" Naruto answered with tears in his eyes.

He walked over to the desk and looked longingly at the stuffed animals. Minato understood and reached for them.

"Which one do you want?" he asked.

"The fox. I like orange" Naruto aswered. Minato gave him the plushie. Naruto hugged it happily.

"Can you tell me a bit about mommy?" he asked shy.

Minato felt a pang in his heart. Then he smiled. "Of course Naruto. I will tell you after we have brought Hinata home and were shopping for some groceries and clothes for you. I have some pictures of her that I can show you."

Naruto smiled brightly. "Yes that's great daddy."

Minato helped Naruto in the bathroom and to get dressed. He only had the clothes from the orphanage and they were more or less all ragged and dirty. Twenty minutes later they sat in the kitchen with Hinata and Hizashi and ate breakfast. Hizashi had been at the Hyuga compound to ask Hiashi if it was all right for Hinata to return and to get some things for breakfast. They had toast, bacon and eggs.

When they were ready after half an hour Minato and Hizashi did the dishes and Hinata and Naruto played in the dojo. Then Minato used his henge to hide his true appearance.

"Why do you look different daddy?" Naruto asked.

"I don't want the people of Konoha to know that I'm back yet so I used a henge no jutsu to hide my normal looks. They will be informed later."

"Oh okay." They left the mansion and Minato and Naruto brought Hinata and Hizashi to the Hyuga compound.

"Well it was very nice of you to let Hinata stay overnight" Hizashi said.

"It was no problem. She is welcome at our home to visit whenever she wants" Minato said and Naruto nodded fervently.

"Bye Hinata-chan, I hope I see you again soon. I want to play with you again it was so much fun" Naruto told Hinata smiling.

"I would like that too Naruto-kun" Hinata answered.

* * *

Minato and Naruto were currently at the grocery store. Minato spread some killing intent to intimidate whoever looked hatingly at Naruto. Coincidentally when the manager came to throw them out Kakashi appeared to get his shopping. His appearance intimidated the manager so much that he didn't dare to refuse business to Minato and Naruto. The copy nin had quite a reputation.

"Hello Kakashi, such a coincidence to meet you here" Minato greeted him. Kakashi knowing what his sensei intended played along.

"Oh nice to meet you too Arashi, Naruto. I wanted to come by later the day to ask if you wanted to train with me Arashi just to see if you are still as good as you were three years ago."

"I would like that Kakashi. But remember last time we sparred I clearly defeated you."

"I got some more experience and have some new jutsus you don't know. It will be an interesting match."

"Well I look forward to it."

Naruto pulled his father's trousers. "Daddy who is this man?" he asked.

"Ah yes you haven't met him yet" Minato answered.

The customers and the assistants at the shop were speechless. The demon had called this man daddy and the man was obviously acquainted with Kakashi Hatake.

"Naruto this is Kakashi Hatake. We fought together in the third shinobi world war. He is a very powerful ninja and was trained by the Yondaime Hokage."

"Nice to meet you Kakashi nii-san" Naruto answered politely.

"My pleasure Naruto" Kakashi answered with his typical eye smile.

"Kakashi nii-san, why do you have a mask?" Naruto asked.

"It's a tradition of my clan" Kakashi explained.

"It looks cool" Naruto said.

"Well thank you. Where were you headed?" he asked Minato.

"We were going to the clothes shops next as Naruto needs some new things."

"Well I will accompany you, I wanted to get some things myself. My dogs ruined some of my socks and civilian clothes. I really need to train them more" Kakashi said.

"Oh you have dogs? Can I see them Kakashi nii-san please?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes.

"Okay but later, they are at my home." "Thank you" Naruto shouted and hugged Kakashis leg. Minato and Kakashi chuckled at Narutos antics.

They headed to the cashier and paid for their groceries. Minato made a Kagebunshin and let him take his things to the house so he had his hands free. Kakashi copied his move and his Kagebunshin also brought his things home. Naruto ran in front of the two men and looked curious at everything at the shop windows. He didn't notice the dark looks he got from most of the villagers but they didn't dare to do more then throw hatred looks at him due to the presence of Minato and Kakashi. The best thing was that the gossip in Konoha travelled as fast as Minato remembered it. The little talk Kakashi and him had at the grocers was spreading. Especially the part that he was a ninja in the third world war and had beaten Kakashi in a spar. The news that he was Narutos father got them disbelieving looks.

"They seem to have problems to accept that Naruto has a father" Kakashi whispered to Minato.

"Yes it seems so but I don't understand why."

"Well you must know many believe that Naruto is the reincarnation of his prisoner so the fact he has a father crushes this believing."

"They are such idiots" Minato grumbled. Only because the villagers were idiots his son had to suffer.

"Well I can't wait to see what will happen after the council meeting in six days. Do you think Tsunade will have returned until then?"

"Probably. I sent a toad to sensei yesterday and the summons can communicate between each other. For something this important they will use their connection to get the message to mom as soon as possible."

"I hope you are right. The civilian council needs to be put in place. They ruin our forces with their incompetence." Minato nodded.

They passed an alley on the way to the clothes store. Suddenly a cat leapt onto Naruto and threw him to the ground. He cried surprised and caught the cat. Then other cries came from the alley.

"It ran this way" Naruto heard.

He looked surprised at the cat and stroked it absent mindedly. The cat purred. It was a dark brown cat with red ribbon at his ear. Minato and Kakashi looked unbelievingly at the scene.

"That cat?" Minato asked. "I don't believe it, it must be a relative to the Nibi. I had to chase it when I was a genin" he said.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"There it is" a boy of twelve shouted. He and two other twelve year olds came through the alley. They suddenly stopped and took in the scene with disbelieving looks on their faces. There sat a little blond boy with the demon cat on his legs on the street and stroked it. And the demon cat purred.

"Sota, please hit me, I think I dream" the girl of the group asked her teammate. He did her the favor. "Ouch, okay this isn't a dream. Excuse me little boy" she asked kindly.

"Yes?" Naruto answered.

"Could we please take the cat back to her owner, it is our mission to catch it." Naruto clearly didn't look pleased.

"Daddy must I?" Naruto asked.

"Yes Naruto, but I think we could accompany them to the Hokage tower as I have never seen this cat this peaceful as in your arms. We could spare these genin a lot of scratches" he pondered.

"Hm, okay. I would like to visit the old man." Minato helped Naruto to stand up and the genin contacted their sensei that they had found the cat and would meet him at the tower.

* * *

They reached the tower and the sensei of the group recognized Kakashi and Naruto but not Minato. He was suspicious. But he didn't say anything because of the law.

"What are they doing here?" he asked his genin team.

"Sensei Yago the cat fled through an alley as we chased it and then leapt onto Naruto-kun, who was thrown to the ground by the impact. He caught the cat und it let him stroke it and seemingly liked it. That was the situation when we arrived. As the cat seems less violent with Naruto his father Arashi suggested to accompany us to spare us the scratches."

"Well that's nice of Arashi-san. Well I have never seen you around Arashi-san. Why is this?" Yago asked.

"That's because I was absent for three years. I fought against the Kyubi like so many others that day and could just return yesterday. If you want to know more about it, you have to ask Hokage sama as he asked me not to tell the details just now."

"I see" Yago said. It was possible that the Hokage wanted to keep something secret. If Arashi got a secret mission after the Kyubi attack it would have been easy to declare him missing in action (MIA). But why did the demon boy call him his father? He was the Kyubi now, wasn't he? But why was Kakashi Hatake so relaxed around the boy and joked with him?

They climbed the stairs to the mission room while Minato carried Naruto as his legs where too short to climb the stairs himself without his arms and they were occupied with the cat. They reached the room and Sota knocked.

"Come in" they heard. The seven went in and the ninjas on duty looked twice because they didn't expect such a large group.

"Team 5 reporting back" Yago declared. The Sandaime looked smiling at the genin and then Naruto.

"Hm, I think you have an interesting story to tell us" he said.

"Yes Hokage sama" the girl said. She reported the chase of Tora and how they found the cat with Naruto and how it was that Naruto and the others accompanied them.

The wife of the fire daimyo arrived and was happy to see that her cat was found again. Yago took the cat from Naruto and gave it to her and she squeezed it while Tora yowled.

"Oh my precious little Tora, I was so worried that you were lost."

"Stop it" Naruto said and tugged on the long robes of the lady. "Please you hurt Tora" he said.

Everybody was silent at his words. "What do you mean boy?" she asked. "I love my little Tora."

"But when you hug her like this it hurts her. Don't you see this?" He looked at her and the cat and was worried about Tora. He got a liking to the cat in the short time he had carried her and didn't want the cat to be hurt.

"Oh and what do you, a little boy know about things like this?" the lady asked.

"I can hear her cries" Naruto said. "She doesn't want to be squeezed and not be able to breathe."

"You can understand her?" the lady asked disbelievingly.

Naruto nodded. "I can show you" he said. She knelt next to the boy. "Come here Tora" he said and the cat leapt to him. He stroked her while holding her gently. "You see, she likes being held like this much better. She purrs. Tora, if this lady will be more gentle, would you like this more?" he asked innocently. Tora looked at him and then her owner and it looked like she nodded. "She said yes" Naruto declared.

The adults were stunned. That was an incredible ability. The lady took Tora back and tried to hold her like Naruto did. Tora was nervous but with each gentle stroke she relaxed more and more in the lady's arms. "I think I have to thank you boy. I never wanted to hurt my precious Tora. What's your name?"

"I'm Naruto" he said smiling.

"Well Naruto, you have my thanks. Hokage sama, here is the payment and an extra bonus for Naruto-chan." She gave the ninja the money and left the office.

Minato took Naruto from the floor. "Naruto, can you understand every animal or just cats?" he asked.

"More than cats. There were the birds which sang in the mornings or the rabbits in the bushes around the orphanage. The rats told me they wanted food."

"What rats Naruto?" the Hokage asked.

"Those in the cellars of the orphanage."

"Why were you in the cellars?" he asked, dreading the worst.

"The matron locked me in there when it was the day for foster parents to choose children. She said I would scare them away and she wouldn't let that happen to the other children."

Minato had a very hard time to suppress his killing intent.

"I see" the Hokage said. "ANBU" he said.

"Yes Hokage Sama?"

"Get me the matron of the orphanage Naruto was in."

"Yes Hokage sama" the ANBU answered and vanished.

Team 5 was stunned. They never would have thought that a little boy would be treated like this. Who was this Naruto? He seemed a very nice child. Yago was thinking hard. Could a demon be this nice? Or was he just playing nice to be underestimated? But if he was a demon, why didn't he fight back? And he just solved the everlasting problem of the escapes of Tora the demon cat, the bane of every genin team.

"Team 5 you are dismissed" the Hokage said. The four bowed and left the office.

"Sarutobi can you trust the ninjas in this room absolutely?" Minato asked trembling with fury. Sarutobi looked around and dismissed the two chunin. The ANBU were trustworthy. Minato dropped the henge and in his eyes everybody could see that he would murder the matron.

"Let me punish this woman. I will show her what happens when you mistreat children especially my son."

The ANBU didn't show any open sign that they saw the Yondaime Hokage and that he said the Jinchuriki was his son. This moment two things happened. Danzo entered the room and was more than surprised and the ANBU arrived with the orphanage matron. The Sandaime rubbed his temples.

"Kakashi please take Naruto with you. He mustn't see this." Minato said.

"Yes sensei" Kakashi answered and took Naruto from Minato. Naruto seemed to be frightened of the matron.

"What does this monster do here? Why have I been taken from the orphanage? It's time for lunch. I have to observe the other caretakers" the woman ranted.

Kakashi shunshined with Naruto away. Minato grabbed the woman at her collar.

"Yon-Yondaime sama?" she asked. "How is this possible? Have you returned to finally destroy the demon?" Minato slapped the woman in the face.

"Shut up. What right do you have to treat Naruto like a monster? He is a child. I have heard what you did to him. I only asked for one thing when I sealed Kyubi in him to save Konoha. For him to be seen as the hero he is to tame the demon. To be the prison which grants the safety from the demon fox. He isn't the demon."

"He is the Kyubi incarnation" the woman said.

"He is my son you imbecile scum. You have forfeited your life. Any last words?" Minato asked.

"But I always did my duty." "You mistreated a child under your care. He is malnourished, had to stay in the cellar with rats when the possible foster parents came for adoption of children. He was isolated from the other children. Never allowed to play with them. I'm surprised that he is able to speak as well as he is able to."

"That would be my fault" Danzo said. Minato looked at him questioningly.

"Would you care to explain Danzo?" he asked.

"My old ROOT members saw how the boy was treated in the orphanage. They told me their findings and I tried to get Naruto to move to my orphanage. I knew he would be talented and wanted to train him as a ninja later. But Hokage sama thought it would be better for him to stay there so the only thing I was able to do was to regularly send one man to the orphanage to speak with the boy. I knew that Hokage sama wanted him to attend the ninja academy later on but for this he had to be able to communicate with others on a sufficient level."

"Thank you for your efforts Danzo. I really appreciate this" Minato said.

"Now to you" he told the woman. He concentrated chakra in his right hand. It formed a spiraling sphere. "Rasengan" Minato said and trust his hand into the woman's stomach.

She crashed with a big impact into the wall. She was dead. Minato looked at Danzo.

"Do you coincidentally have more information on the treatment my son got at that orphanage?"

"Yes I have. I think it would be wise to have a talk in private later on Yondaime sama" he said. Minato nodded.

"Danzo, why did you never tell me this? I tried to protect Naruto" the Sandaime asked.

"You wouldn't have been able to do anything Hiruzen. The council has you under their thumbs. They would have said that you showed favoritism to the boy even if it was just the normal treatment every child needs. But as a Jinchuriki Naruto needs more guidance than every other child when he has to be able to control the chakra of his biju. He needs special training. I had more possibilities to operate from the shadows as everybody think I'm only a crippled old man. But I still have my contacts."

"You remember our talk yesterday?" Minato asked.

"Now the last piece of the puzzle is in place" Danzo said. "I guess you will retake your position as Hokage again?"

"Yes, after I have collected enough proof to cut the privileges the civilian council instated for themselves after my death."

"Well I guess than we should proceed to our private talk."

"I have some things to do before we can talk Danzo. Please come to my mansion at eight this evening. Then I will reveal my plans for Konohas future to you. Sarutobi, please think of a cover story for the death of this woman."

"Yes Minato. I'm glad that in one week you will be Hokage again. I have had enough of these headaches for the rest of my life." Minato grinned.

"Okay see you later" he said and shunshined away.

"Well that was interesting" Danzo said.

"You have no clue Danzo. Konoha is in for a storm. He will turn everything upside down and get rid of everybody who he thinks is a threat to Konoha. He won't be the same he was when he first took the mantle."

"And that is what I look forward to. He was a formidable warrior but he was kind of naïve. Now after he saw how Konoha treated his son, he will be more realistic."

"I just hope that he won't sacrifice everything Konoha stands for. The will of fire is unique to us and I don't want to lose this. It is what made Konoha strong in the past and allowed us to bloom."

"He told me his goal for our ninja picture. On the field able to suppress their emotions to perfectly fulfill their mission but caring in their private life. I have thought about this last night after he made his proposition to help him with his goals and I must say he has matured. I look forward to the changes he will start. It is about time that everybody is reminded of the true power a Hokage has."

* * *

Naruto and Kakashi were at a public playground where Naruto was at the swing with Kakashi pushing him. When Minato arrived, he saw his son laughing and was glad he didn't see what he did to the matron of the orphanage. He was in his henge again and walked towards Kakashi and Naruto. When Naruto saw him coming he let go of the swing and flew through the air. He landed safely on his feet and ran to Minato.

"Daddy" he shouted happily. "Did you see me on the swing? Kakashi nii-san pushed me really high. It was so much fun."

"Yes I saw it Naruto and your landing was really good. You will do great when you start your ninja training."

He ruffled Narutos hair. Narutos happy face was all what Minato needed to put the memory of the execution of the matron at the back of his mind.

"Let's go, we still have to buy you some new clothes."

"Okay daddy." Minato took Naruto from the ground and put him onto his shoulders.

"And do you have a good view from there Naruto?" Naruto squealed excitedly. Kakashi had come to them and together they went to the clothing stores.

* * *

When the three left the playgrounds a lot of adults began to talk with each other about the meaning of this display. How could the demon child be in the company of the famous Kakashi Hatake and who was his father?

"Did you see this? How can the Hokage allow for this thing to run around? What if it attacks our children?" a woman asked.

"Yes, it should be killed and then we will be safe again. I don't understand why the Sandaime didn't finish what the Yondaime started" another agreed.

"Stop this idiocy" suddenly a blonde woman said. "This boy isn't the demon everybody thinks he is. My husband is a ninja and he explained the working of sealing objects to me because I was worried about the safety of my daughter Ino when I heard about it. The boy is just the prison of the demon. And Inoichi is absolutely sure that Minato Namikaze knew how to construct a seal that was fail-safe. They were classmates at the academy and even then he was way ahead of everybody in the art of sealing."

"What are you saying Ren-san? Would you let your daughter play with this _boy_?" a man asked disbelievingly.

"I would observe them the first time to make sure Ino is safe, but yes I would. He is just a child. A child that has to carry a terrible burden to keep everybody safe."

"You are crazy he is the reincarnation of the demon. The demon has taken over the body of the child."

"Now you are the one who babbles nonsense. And by the way it's forbidden to talk about that. You did see how the child played on the swing? How he laughed when Kakashi, who by the way was the student of Minato Namikaze and should know the abilities of his sensei better than anybody else except perhaps Jiraiya sama, pushed him higher and higher. Which demon could show such genuine happiness? That isn't a trick of a Kitsune, just a little boy who has fun like every other child."

"Are you sure Ren?" another woman asked.

"Yes Yoshino I am sure. I think Shikaku would tell you the same. This boy isn't a danger."

"Pff, Shikaku would just say troublesome and wouldn't bother to explain anything to me the lazy ass" Yoshino replied. Some women laughed. It was legendary how all Nara men found everything troublesome.

* * *

Kakashi, Minato and Naruto arrived at the clothes store.

"Wow, this is a big house" Naruto said.

"You're right. I'm sure we will find everything we need for you here" Minato said. They entered the store and after a few moments a lot of the customers glared at Naruto. This time he recognized it.

"Daddy?" he asked unsure why they looked so mean.

"Don't be afraid Naruto. I'm with you and nobody will hurt you" Minato ensured.

"And if they try anything, they will have to answer me first. Nobody treats my little brother bad" Kakashi added.

"Thank you daddy and nii-san." The people in the store didn't want to believe their ears. The famous copy nin had called the demon his little brother. What did this mean?

"Stand aside" suddenly a woman said. "Hello welcome to our store gentlemen, how can I help you?" she asked. The woman was in her late forties, had blond hair with a few grey stripes and was probably a retired Kunoichi if Minatos thoughts were right.

"Thank you Miss. We need some new clothes for my son" Minato said.

The woman looked at Naruto and then her eyes narrowed. She looked at Minato and Kakashi. She lowered her voice.

"How comes you say you are his father? I happen to know who his father was and I know for sure he died in the Kyubi attack. What do you plan?" She looked intensely. "And if I don't get a sufficient answer, I will dispel this henge of yours to get my answers. This boy has been through enough, I won't let his heart be broken by somebody who uses him to get his father's techniques or fortune."

Minato smiled at her words. This was somebody who wanted to protect Naruto and he had a feeling he should know her from somewhere.

"I think I met you before. Would you please tell me your name?" he asked.

"My name is Sakuyo Yamanaka" she answered.

"Now I remember you" Minato said. Kakashi looked at him.

"Who is she?" Kakashi asked.

"She was the nurse who led the preparation course Kushina visited when she was pregnant with Naruto" Minato answered. "I would never have thought to meet her as a store clerk. Why don't you work at the hospital Sakuyo-san?" Minato asked.

"I ask the questions. Who are you?"

Minato sighed. "There is just one way to prove myself. You are a Yamanaka. If I grant you access to my mind you will see who I am, but I have to ask you to not tell anybody, even Inoichi of my identity until I reveal it in about one week. I still have to prepare some things."

"All right I agree. If I find you tell the truth, I won't say anything" she promised.

They went to the back of the store where Sakuyo started her technique.

"Shintenshin no jutsu" she said and fell limp.

"What happened to her?" Naruto asked worried.

"You don't need to worry Naruto. She just used a special ninjutsu to look into you fathers mind to see if he is really your father as she don't want you to be hurt. She will awake soon" Kakashi explained. Naruto nodded skeptically. But a few moments later the women awoke and smiled at him and the others.

"That's indeed great news Arashi-san. I'm glad you are back. Well let's go and search for some clothes for Naruto-kun" Sakuyo said and led the way to the children's department.


	8. Chapter 8

**Return of the Sannin**

Jiraiya was happy. No he was more than happy. He had gotten a message from a toad which Minato had summoned. His student was alive again and he wanted him and Tsunade to return to the village. Inside he was cursing the council. He and Tsunade had been told by a messenger that Naruto had died the night of the Kyubi attack and left the village without further goodbye to their sensei. Now Jiraiya wished he had said goodbye. His sensei would have known Naruto was still alive. But his grieve for the deaths of Minato, Kushina and Naruto had blinded his senses. He had contacted the chief toad immediately and asked him to give a message to Tsunades slug summons. He hoped this way he would reach her faster. He had some ideas where Tsunade could be but it was very difficult to find her with all her hiding from creditors.

* * *

Tsunade sat at a casino at the roulette table. She had already lost a lot of money but she didn't care. She tried to forget the deaths of her beloved people. She asked herself why Kami sama dealt her such a shitty hand in life. First it was her little brother Nawaki who died in the war. Then when she thought things were looking better, her and Dan's son Minato was just two years old and their wedding was already scheduled, Dan died during a fight. She hadn't been able to save him. The only reason she came back to Konoha was Minato but she couldn't be the mother she wanted to be because of her enemies. If they had found out about Minato being her son, he would have been targeted. And during the war it was very difficult to protect a single child.

Then Minato grew older and became a genius of a ninja. He shared his father's dream to become Hokage and he managed to realize this dream. She had been so proud the day he was inaugurated. He found love in the youngest whirlpool princess who happened to be one hell of a kunoichi herself. And then he told her that she was going to be a grandmother. Minato and Kushina were so excited and couldn't wait for Naruto to be born. Why he decided to name his firstborn after a character in Jiraiyas novel she would never understand. At least her son hadn't taken over her perverted teammates unhealthy hobby.

And then came the day she lost everything. The day the goddamned Kyubi attacked Konoha. Kushina went in labor, Minato was needed to find a way to defeat Kyubi and she tried everything to save Kushinas life as it became obvious that the Youki of Kyubi interfered with a normally unproblematic birth. They lost. Kushina gave birth to Naruto but died half an hour later in Minatos arms. He was devastated and it wasn't over. He had found a way to stop Kyubi but he had to use a jutsu which would make his son a jinchuriki. A burden nobody wished to put on any child, least his own, but it was the only way to save Konoha. Sarutobi had offered to do the sealing so Naruto could at least have one parent but Minato had argued that he was the only one who had enough chakra to last through the sealing. If it had been any biju up to six tails Sarutobi would have been able to do it, but he was too old if it were one of the three strongest. And it just happened to be the strongest of all, the damned nine tailed fox.

Minato had taken Naruto with him and all they saw was Gamabunta and a blinding white light and then the demon vanished. They had waited for Naruto to be brought back, but instead a messenger of the council came to them and told them that Naruto had died during the sealing. Heartbroken she and Jiraiya left Konoha without saying goodbye to Sarutobi. He would understand. She couldn't stand staying in Konoha with everybody she loved dead.

Shizune, Dan's niece had accompanied her. It was for her she was still somewhat sane. She stopped her when she drank too much or gambled much more than was reasonable. But she felt the emptiness inside herself. What reason was there for her to live? She put her money on the red two without thinking. It didn't matter. The bets were set and the croupier span the wheel.

"Two red" he announced. Shizune shouted happily.

"You won Tsunade, you won."

Tsunade didn't believe her eyes she never won anything. That was a bad sign. Or perhaps just coincidence. She had to be sure. If she won again she had to leave immediately. So she put her original setting and her winnings on the black 37. Shizune was afraid. Why had her master to risk the much needed money? The wheel span again.

"37 black" the croupier announced.

"Shizune, take my winnings we are leaving" Tsunade said.

Something was going to happen and due to her experiences it was never good when she won at gambling.

When Tsunade and Shizune were just outside the town a little slug appeared in front of them.

"Greetings lady Tsunade and Shizune. My mother Katsuyu sent me to rely a message that has been given to us for you by the toads. Minato Namikaze has been resurrected by the death god and has asked Jiraiya to get you to return to Konoha because he needs your help. And I was told to tell you that your grandson would really like to get to know you."

Tsunade sank to her knees. "Mi-Minato is a-alive again? My little Minato lives? And what about my grandson? I was told he died?"

"No they are both alive and wait for you in Konoha."

Tsunade shook with fury. She had been lied to. Her grandson was alive. He had been alive the whole time. These bastards of the council had lied to her.

"Where do I meet Jiraiya?" she asked.

"He is on his way and should arrive here in a few hours."

"Thank you Tsuki that are great news. Tell your mother my thanks."

"Yes lady Tsunade." Tsuki poofed away.

"Tsunade?" Shizune asked.

"These bastards lied to me. They put me through hell and let me believe my grandson died three years ago. They will suffer as I have suffered. Nobody messes with my family. They will feel the fury of the Senju clan. How much did I win Shizune?"

"A lot."

"Is it enough to repay all my debts?"

"Yes easily."

"Then please do this. When Jiraiya arrives I want to head to Konoha immediately."

"Yes sensei" Shizune answered and headed back to town.

* * *

Three hours later Jiraiya reached them.

"Nice to meet you again Tsunade, Shizune" he greeted.

"Same to you Jiraiya. Are you ready to kill those bastards of the council?" Tsunade asked.

"Count me in. If they didn't lie to us, I would have taken care of Naruto. I am his damned godfather I mean."

"Yes. And I think there is a reason they lied. They must plan something why they wanted us out of the village."

"Well we will thwart their plans. One thing I know for sure Minato won't stand for this."

* * *

In the village Minato used his free time to get to know Naruto. His son was an energy bundle. He couldn't sit still for long periods of time. He wanted to know about many things and Minato took his time to explain. Like a sponge Naruto absorbed everything he was told. As Naruto had a strong liking for animals Minato decided to take a walk in the forest. It was peaceful there and Naruto saw lots of different animals. Some squirrels jumped onto his head and he seemingly talked with them.

"What do they tell you?" Minato asked interested.

"They want nuts" Naruto answered. "And they are hiding from eagles as they hunt them."

Minato smiled. His son was a special child. And he would ensure his happy childhood as long as he could. The truth about being a ninja would come soon enough for him.

Minato sensed two hidden people and got ready in case they tried to attack. But then two ANBUs with the sign for the ROOT unit came down in front of him and Naruto.

"Excuse the disturbance Arashi-san but Danzo sama sent us to watch over you and your son. We would have stayed hidden but didn't want to make you think we were enemies."

"I see, I will thank Danzo for his thoughtfulness tonight." The two nodded and disappeared.

"Daddy who were they?" Naruto asked.

"ANBUs who make sure nobody tries to attack us" Minato explained.

"We don't need to go back, do we?" Naruto asked. He wanted to stay in the forest with his father.

"Not now, later." Naruto smiled. He ran deeper into the forest and Minato followed. Minato looked at his watch. "Well, I think my surprise for the shopping district will go off soon" he mumbled.

* * *

In the central market place in Konoha the booths were equipped and the villagers did their shopping. It was market day and a lot of farmers that lived outside the village had come to sell their goods. The streets and the place burst from people. Nobody thought that something was about to happen. Unnoticed by everybody some seals around the place began to glow blue. They were placed so that nearly nobody would realize that something was wrong until it was too late. Then some explosions went of. The whole area was clouded in yellow mist. The people began to scream and tried to get rid of the mist. It took the Uchihas on patrol twenty minutes to get rid of the mist. When it finally disappeared, everybody's hair was colored yellow. Bright yellow. And after another fifteen minutes they saw a sign on the front of the main storage whose owner was part of the civilian council. A big yellow flash.

* * *

Sarutobi was not happy at the moment. He got reports of the incident at the market place and he knew just too well who was behind it. He was just glad Minato had just colored the hair of everybody to set a sign but he wouldn't stop at this. This prank was just a warning to those who had wronged Naruto. Proof of this was the sign on the store of one of the members of the civilian council. It would get worse the next days. That was sure. He dreaded something to happen at the Police station or the Uchiha compound. They were prime targets for Minatos revenge. That was until he found the proof he was looking for. Then he would go for harsher actions. But now he just gave him a big headache while dealing with all the complaints. Some had the nerve to try to blame everything on Naruto. As if a three year old boy would be able to do such a prank.

* * *

It was half past seven and Minato tried to put Naruto in bed. But his son didn't want to sleep just now. He wanted to see whom his father wanted to meet. He had bathed, eaten und was now in his pajamas. And he ran across the living room trying to escape his father's catch.

"Come on Naruto, it's time to go to bed" Minato said while chasing him.

"No, I'm not sleepy. I want to meet your guest." He dived under the table und crept over the floor. Minato missed him by an inch.

"Naruto" he cursed. This went on for another twenty minutes. Minato wondered how a three year old boy could be this fast and tricky to catch. Finally Minato managed to grab Naruto.

"You're really difficult to catch, you know this?" he said.

Naruto squirmed in his arms. When he realized he had no chance to escape he pouted. "Not fair" he grumbled.

Minato thought hard. "If I allow you to meet my guest, will you then go to bed without struggling and sleep without complaints?" he asked.

"Yes daddy" Naruto answered.

"Promise?"

"I promise" Naruto nodded. Minato sat down with Naruto at the couch.

"Well you know. If you train your evasion skills you will make one hell of a ninja later" Minato told Naruto.

"Really daddy?" Naruto was elated at the praise.

"Yes really."

"When can I start training?" he asked.

"You are a bit too young to start just yet." Naruto pouted at this. Minato smiled. Naruto was just cute with this face.

Point eight the doorbell rang. Minato told Naruto to wait in the living room and went to get the door. Soon after he reentered the room accompanied by Danzo.

"Naruto, this is Danzo Shimura, a very strong ninja of this village, Danzo my son Naruto."

"Nice to meet you Naruto-kun" Danzo said.

"It's nice to meet you too" Naruto said and looked curious at the man in front of him. "What happened to your eye? Why do you hide it under the bandages?" Naruto asked.

"Well I was injured and can't see on this eye" Danzo answered.

"That's sad. Can't the doctors help you?"

"They tried but the injury was too severe."

"That sucks" Naruto said. "But you can still be a ninja?" he then asked.

"Well not on the field. At the moment I use my time to train children who want to be ninjas."

"That's so cool. I want to be a ninja too. Just like daddy."

"That's nice to know Naruto-kun" Danzo said.

"Naruto, I think it's time for you to go to bed. Now that you've met Danzo-san."

"Okay daddy, bye Danzo-san" Naruto said.

"I'll just tuck him in and then come back" Minato told Danzo who nodded and sat down at the couch. Five minutes later Minato returned and he and Danzo began to talk.

"I'm really surprised that you are alive again" Danzo began.

"Well, the reason is that the gods have poker evenings every six months. Shinigami sama made a bet with an angel he wanted to date for a while. If he won, she would go on a date with him, if she won, he had to resurrect a soul of her choosing. That happened to be me. The angel that made this bet with Shinigami sama was Narutos guardian angel."

"A story very hard to believe" Danzo stated.

"I know but every word is true. That's the only reason I can be with my little boy. And I will see that he can grow up happily."

"Are you sure your feelings for him won't clash with your goals for a stronger Konoha?"

"Yes as the reasons for his misery are the same as those who weakens the village. As you heard Naruto wants to be a ninja. What do you think would happen when he enters the academy in a few years seeing his current treatment?"

Danzo pondered over this question. "Well he would have difficulties as he won't have a suitable training partner as all the parents keep their children away from him. If the academy teachers won't be changed it could happen that they would deny him a proper education."

"Yes and without a proper education he would fall behind all the other children and the level of the academy couldn't be that high as they need to take every child with the class. The pace of learning is set by the slow students. When one student is held on a low level on purpose the rest will stay low as well. Therefore the whole class will suffer and have fewer chances to survive the first year as genins if they pass the test of their jonin senseis that is."

"That will be a problem as he as a Jinchuriki needs more training than any other child. If he won't be able to control his biju's chakra it could be dangerous for the village."

"Yes but the seal is foolproof. Shinigami sama himself powered it. That's not a problem for the next ten years. Naruto will only be able to access the chakra in low doses when he is very angry or has another strong emotion. Or when his life is in danger. The chakra of the fox will be converted into Narutos own chakra the older he gets. At the age of twenty he will have absorbed all of Kyubis chakra and the fox's spirit will return to hell."

"That's an incredible seal. That takes care of every problem other Jinchurikis had in the past."

"Yes I wanted to make sure that my son was safe even when I was forced to place this burden on his shoulders."

Danzo's thoughts raced. If this was true Naruto would be a splendid ninja. He had nearly never ending chakra supplies at his hands and with the proper training he would be able to use it properly.

"If anybody outside of Konoha finds this out they will come to take him away or try to kill him to destroy the threat to their own forces" he analyzed.

"Yes and that's the reason why I asked Sarutobi to keep his heritage a secret. I have too many enemies that would love to get revenge through my son. And that didn't even include Orochimaru and Madara Uchiha who are still outside and plan to destroy Konoha."

"I see. I suppose Madara was behind the Kyubi attack as he is one of the few who was able to control a biju?"

"Yes. Kyubi was put under a very strong Genjutsu. I wasn't able to break it, I tried, believe it."

"Does this mean Kyubi would work together with Naruto?"

"No, he is an evil demon. He loves to destroy things Madara just turned him towards Konoha. The fox can't be trusted. I will tell Naruto about his burden when he is old enough to understand. Until then I will train him to be strong enough not to rely on the fox in dire situations. The fox could use that to try to weaken the seal and take over. The Youki of Kyubi is malevolent. It destroys everything in its path. The seal transforms it so Naruto isn't hurt by it." Danzo nodded.

"What other plans did you make for Konoha?" he then asked.

"I want to reform the council. It takes too much time to make decisions. The council was made to ease the workload of the Hokage so he could spend more time with his main objective, the protection of the village. But now the Hokages main objective is doing paperwork. That isn't the way things work. As I see it most of the problems could be solved by the responsible side of the council. I will investigate what kind of things end up on the Hokages desk and then sort out what is not the responsibility of the Hokage. The council is just an instrument to advise the Hokage not to rule the village and waste the Hokages time."

"That's true. I always questioned the ways Sarutobi let them get through with their petty requests."

"They will see what they did. Sooner or later. For them I hope they didn't commit treason because I'm very tempted to use all the power the Hokage truly has against them. It is time that they see what a true Hokage is able to do."

Danzo just nodded. Minato wouldn't make foul compromises. He wanted the issues of the village to be solved once and for all.

"What about the Hyuga incident?"

"Well, we have the advantage that we only captured the kidnapper and that he wasn't killed. Kumo has no means to ask for reparation. We didn't act against the contract. The ambassador was treated with utmost politeness until he hurt the pact on his side. Inoichi and Ibiki are questioning him as of now. When we know his motives for the kidnapping attempt we can make requests to Kumo. And I'm sure that the Raikage is behind everything. If he wants a war, he will get one. One that only last a few minutes. I will personally slaughter his soldiers if he thinks he can make demands of Konoha. They wronged us and not the other way around. I hope my reputation will suffice to make them think trice to go to war."

"I'm sure it will. They just tried because Sarutobi wants to keep the peace at nearly every price."

"Well he had no choice but I have. I don't have to send an army as I am one myself. If Kumo thinks they are ready to face the yellow flash they are in for a surprise. And I will show them that I'm alive again."

* * *

It was seven o'clock in the morning and the guards at the main gate were bored. At this hour nobody would come or go. The missions wouldn't start before eight and the returning ninjas normally didn't show up until nine. No normal ninja traveled through the night unless it was necessary for the mission.

"It's so boring to keep watch at this time of the day" one of the chunin guards complained.

"You are right Kai but what can we do? Orders are orders" the other replied.

"I wish something would happen" the teenager called Kai said.

"I agree. It would be a really great thing if some prominent ninjas would come through."

"Yeah imagine if somebody as famous as the Sannin would turn up. Then we had some story to tell."

"Unlikely they would come by. They left Konoha three years ago and haven't returned since then."

At the horizon they suddenly saw movements. "Well it seems at least somebody is coming. It won't be the Sannin but you can't get it all."

"You're right."

Five minutes later they wanted to eat their words.

"Identify yourselves" Kai said.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin returning to report in for the Hokage" the white haired man said.

"Tsunade Senju of the Sannin returning to report in for the Hokage" the blond woman said.

"Chunin Shizune Namikaze, apprentice to Tsunade Senju returning to report in for the Hokage" the teenage girl told them.

She was holding a small pig that wore a chain of marbles around his neck. The two guard's jaws hit the ground. The two Sannin that were still loyal to Konoha and a girl from the Namikaze clan, that was believed to be extinct were returning to Konoha.

"Welcome back. The Hokage will be happy that you have returned" Kai said.

"We will see how happy he is when we have talked" Jiraiya mumbled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Family reunion**

Sarutobi had just arrived at his office. He had sent the callings for the meeting in five days as Minato wanted. He hoped that the blonde wouldn't kill everybody in the council that would be such a mess. He could understand his fury but he didn't think it would be right to kill them all. He really was too old for the job. And due to Minatos prank he still hadn't finished with all the complaints of the day before even with the use of kagebunshin no jutsu. Well it was early in the morning and nobody would bother him so he could finish this and then go on with his daily work. Or so he thought. It knocked at the door.

"Yes?" he shouted. His assistant entered the room.

"Hokage sama there are three ninjas that returned this morning and want to speak with you" she told him.

"Who are they?" he asked nipping at his cup of coffee.

"Well, Jiraiya, Tsunade Senju and Shizune Namikaze." Sarutobi spat out his coffee.

"What?" he asked. The assistant just nodded. "Send them in please."

"Yes Hokage sama" she answered and soon the three entered the office.

"Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune. What a pleasant surprise that you have returned."

"I don't think it will be this pleasant sensei" Tsunade said.

"What happened Tsunade?" Sarutobi asked.

"What happened you ask? We were lied to by the damned council that happened. I thought my son and my grandson both died in the Kyubi attack. My heart broke and I couldn't stand staying in the village any longer. And yesterday one of the toads contacted my slug summoning to inform me that my grandson was alive the whole time. Don't you think that I have every reason to be pissed?" she yelled.

"I can just verify what Tsunade said. I thought I lost everything that night. Sensei I was supposed to be Narutos godfather. I feel like I abandoned the boy all these years. Please tell me you were able to protect him from the council and that he hasn't been mistreated" Jiraiya added. Sarutobi looked ashamed to the ground.

"Sensei what happened to you? You once were the god of the shinobi. How can some mere civilians order you around? Why did you never mention Naruto in one of your messages?" Jiraiya shouted.

"I thought you both knew about him. I thought you left because with Minatos and Kushinas death you couldn't bear staying."

"Even if that was the case, I would have taken my grandson with me. I would never have abandoned him here. Not with these vultures. Where is he? I want to see him."

"He's with Minato at the Namikaze mansion."

"Then Minato really is alive again. That's wonderful" Shizune said.

"Yes it is" Tsunade agreed. "But this will not be the end of it. The council is in for torture of the worst kind. You can reserve the beds in the hospital for them. First to go there will be the old hags you call your teammates sensei. Then each member of the civilian side and then I will look onto the behavior of the shinobi side. Nobody will be spared of my wrath."

Sarutobi could see the fire in Tsunades eyes. Nobody would be able to stop her and he suspected Minato had intended just that when he called her back.

"Another question sensei, will Minato take back the seat from you?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes, he said that was the easiest way for him to protect Naruto. And it seems he has allied himself with Danzo."

"With Danzo? I would never have thought he would work together with him. He is always the first one to cry for war."

"Minatos seems to believe that he and Danzo could find a compromise to strengthen Konoha, especially the future generations of ninjas. They have similar believing for the educational system. The civilian council has reduced the level that is taught at the academy as the children there are not ninjas and therefore under their liability."

"That's bullshit. These children are the future soldiers of Konoha. They have to be prepared for what can happen in the field. If they don't know what it means to be a ninja they won't survive their first year. Does the council want them to die early?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well the shinobi council argued the same way but they didn't bother. And my powers have been cut before I was reestablished."

"That's bordering treason sensei. The Hokage is a military dictator not a democratically elected leader. Therefore no civilian council has the superiority to tell him what he has to do" Tsunade mentioned.

"They were backed up by the daimyo. They somehow got his support. When I took back the mantle it was too late. All I could do was to limit the damage that was done."

"And what would that be?" Jiraiya asked dreading the answer.

"Well I stopped them from killing Naruto as the civilian side and Fugaku wanted and stopped their influence over those who passed the graduation exam at the academy. But I wasn't able to get him adopted into the Sarutobi or the Hyuga clan. The council stopped it. So the only possibility was to put him in the orphanage. But as we found out recently they didn't treat him well. Minato already executed the matron in charge with a Rasengan."

"This will stop. I will make sure Naruto will be treated with the respect he deserves" Tsunade said. "And I will tell the daimyo what a mistake it was to let the civilians influence the powers of the Hokage."

"Sensei we will be at Minatos mansion if you want to see us" Jiraiya said and put his arm around Tsunades shoulders to take her out of the office. Shizune followed the two Sannin.

"I really messed this up" Sarutobi mumbled.

Minato sat at the kitchen table with Naruto and helped his son to learn the proper use of chopsticks. He soon found out that the orphanage didn't bother to teach Naruto anything and that he had to learn through try and error what worked and what not. But his manors where horrible due to this.

"Eat slowly Naruto, you have time to eat. Nobody will steal your food" Minato told him softly.

Naruto nodded and tried to take one bit at a time and not to wolf down everything.

"Was this the only way you got food at the orphanage?" Minato asked dreading the answer.

Naruto looked sad. "Yes. I was always the last one they let go to the buffet and then the things I really wanted to eat were gone. If I wasn't fast enough I got nothing at all because they took it away to the kitchen."

"That is over Naruto. You will never have to fear this again." Naruto nodded smiling.

It was great to have a dad. Naruto tried to hold his chopsticks the way Minato showed him to do it. He took a piece of the fruits Minato had cut for him and got it to his mouth without dropping it and eat it.

"Look daddy I did it" he said happily.

"Yes, very good Naruto. With training you will become perfect in no time at all" he encouraged him. The doorbell rang. "Who could that be this early?" Minato asked himself.

He stood up and went to the door. He activated a seal which transmitted the picture of the persons that stood at the entrance with their chakra levels. When he had all the information he couldn't stop grinning. They were faster then he would have thought. He opened the gate through a chakra signal to the seal and let them in. He then opened the door and waited for them. Not a minute later they stood in front of him.

"Minato, you really are alive again" Tsunade whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Yes I am" he said smiling. Then Tsunade flew in his arms and cried out of happiness.

"It's really good to see you again kid" Jiraiya said.

"Thank you sensei."

"Nii-san" Shizune said.

"Hey Shizune-chan. It's really good to see you all again. I never thought you would be this fast. But I'm happy. Come in, don't let us stay in the grounds." They nodded and Tsunade whipped her tears away.

"How is this possible Minato?" she asked.

"Shinigami sama lost a bet with an angel at poker and had to resurrect me to fulfill his end of the bargain. The angel was Narutos guardian angel and couldn't stand to see how he was treated here."

"Naruto my little grandson, where is he?"

"He is in the kitchen and tries to learn how to use chopsticks properly. He was never taught anything at the orphanage. Can you believe that his abilities to speak are only this good because Danzo sent one of his retired ROOT agents to talk with him?"

"What? They neglected him this much?" Jiraiya fumed.

"Yes, I don't know if you already met with Sarutobi, but I executed the matron yesterday."

"Yes we heard it. Best thing you could do I think. You will have a lot of work when you retake the hat" Jiraiya said.

"I know and I have plans. Plans that will put the council in its place."

They reached the kitchen. "Naruto we have visitors" Minato told him.

Naruto dropped his piece of fruit out of surprise and directly had a look of horror on his face.

"That was not purposely I swear." Minato feared that this also was a result of the treatment in the orphanage.

"Hey, I know this Naruto, you don't need to fear I would punish you for something like this. I would only punish you if you did something really bad. But not for dropping a piece of fruit to the floor. You can take it up and put it in the trash, then we clean it with a wet paper and that's it."

"Really daddy?"

"Yes really." Naruto smiled shyly.

Tsunade wanted to massacre the whole staff of the orphanage. How could they make a small child believe that he would be punished for something like this? She dreaded the rest of his treatment but knew better then to ask.

Naruto looked at the three visitors. "Who are they daddy?" he asked curiously.

Minato smiled. "Naruto, these are the people I told you about two days ago. The blond woman is my mother Tsunade, your grandmother, the black haired woman is my cousin Shizune Namikaze and the white haired man is Jiraiya my sensei and he is also your godfather."

"T-They are my family?" Naruto asked shaking a little.

"Yes they are" Minato smiled at him to ensure him. Naruto walked slowly to the three.

"Hello Naruto" Tsunade said kindly. "You really have grown since the last time I saw you. You were I tiny baby then."

"Granny?" he asked. She nodded. He then smiled and hugged her.

Tsunade was teary eyed and hugged him back. He didn't ask why she had never been there he was just happy that she was there now. The other three smiled at the scene. Shizune knew Tsunade has been worried that Naruto wouldn't accept her and be mad that she hadn't been with him but it seemed he was a very kind boy who looked at the good things and not the bad ones.

"Will you play with me granny?" he asked.

"Of course Naruto-chan" Tsunade answered. "But first you have to finish your breakfast."

"Okay" Naruto tried to climb onto his chair but he needed Minatos help. Then he restarted to eat.

"Shizune-chan would you please stay with Naruto? I want to talk to mom and sensei for a while."

"Of course nii-san" Shizune answered.

Minato led Tsunade and Jiraiya to the living room. "Why have you two never been with him?" Minato asked promptly.

"The damned council sent a messenger the night you went out to seal the damned fox. We knew you would sacrifice your life but the messenger told us that Naruto didn't survive the sealing and died as well. After this we couldn't stand staying in Konoha any longer and left the same night without saying goodbye. I sent regular reports of my spy-network to sensei but I never returned. I thought I lost everything that night" Jiraiya explained.

Tsunade nodded. "It was as if history repeated itself. It was the same horrible feeling when I lost my little brother or when I wasn't able to save your father Dan. But this time I had nothing left. When your father died, I had you and you where the anchor I could hold onto. But with you and Naruto gone I had nothing left in Konoha."

"I understand. One more crime they will pay for." Minato clenched his fists. The council won't survive this he swore. Nobody had the right to mess like this with his family.

"What do you plan Minato?" Jiraiya asked.

"In five days is the meeting where I will announce my return. Danzo is helping me with the laws I have to pass immediately to regain the full power of the Hokage without the council meddling in these affairs. We have agreed to reform the educational system. He has some really interesting ideas. I have sent some toads to spy on the members of the council. I expect results in some days. When I have proof of their treason, I will let them be taken to the ANBU T&I unit to gather whatever information they have. I know for sure Inoichi and Ibiki will find everything they hide. The Hyuga clan is already under investigation due to an attempted kidnapping of Hiashis daughter Hinata. I coincidentally could stop the kidnapper and it turned out to be the ambassador Kumo sent for the signing of the peace contract. He is in for interrogation right now. But he would never been able to infiltrate the Hyuga compound without inside help. That Hiashi is analyzing."

"That's a grave thing to happen. It could lead to a new war with Kumo."

"Only if they are stupid. I will send requests for reparation for the violation of the peace contract to Kumo with one of my three pronged Kunai as a warning. If they really believe they can beat me in the field let them think it. Kumo will be short of ninjas for a long time if they try it. I have enough of my Hiraishin kunai to take down another army."

"You really are furious" Jiraiya stated.

"Of course I am. You saw it yourself in the kitchen. Because of the idiocy of the council Naruto never had a family. Sarutobi and Hizashi tried to adopt him but the civilian side with the help of Fugaku Uchiha and Koharu and Homura blocked this. He was sent to the orphanage where the matron systematically tore his soul apart. He is malnourished because they never let him eat properly. He was isolated from the other children. When possible foster parents came to the orphanage he was imprisoned in the cellar with rats. How could I not be furious? Naruto told me the only times they were nice to him were when Sarutobi visited. But they threatened him that he would be punished if he told Sarutobi anything about his usual treatment. I just find out more and more about it. It will take a lot of time for his emotional wounds to heal. The only good thing I can see is that it didn't last longer and he wasn't physically abused."

"Oh my god. I never would have thought it possible for something like this to happen in Konoha" Tsunade said crying.

"Me too mom. If I had known, I would have made sure that nobody knew about the sealing. I thought Konohas villagers would be less stupid and could see the boy not the demon."

"We will help you Minato. Nobody will dare to hurt Naruto when we announce who he really is. I think this will be the only way to stop how the villagers see him. Their respect for you is too big to let them harm your son."

"They can put their respect to the trash. If they really respected me, they would have honored my last wish and have seen Naruto as the hero he is." Nobody said anything because they knew he was right.

"Daddy, granny I'm ready" Naruto shouted. They silently decided to talk later.

"Great Naruto, what do you want to do today?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto thought hard. The adults thought he looked cute when he scrunched his face in concentration.

"Well, it was really cold the last weeks and I thought, well, I know the other children were taken to a lake to ice-skate there. Perhaps we could go there?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course we can do this Naruto" Tsunade answered. Narutos face lightened up.

"Thank you granny, thank you. I always wanted to go there. The stories the others told when they returned sounded great."

It gave Minato a pinch in his heart to hear about this but all he could do was to change the things for the future.

"Well, we could pack a picnic to take with us. What would you like to eat at the lake?" Tsunade asked.

"I don't know" Naruto answered.

"Hm, then we just have to take various things so you could try them all" she decided. Naruto nodded.

"Can we ask Hinata-chan if she wants to come too?" he asked.

"Who is Hinata-chan?" Shizune asked.

"My new friend" Naruto told them happy.

"Well I don't think Hiashi would be against it. Perhaps we could also take Neji with us. He is only a year older than Hinata and Naruto. And Hizashi also knows about me" Minato suggested. The others nodded. Naruto jumped around. That would be a great day if they could go to the lake.

**Thanks for all the reviews. I try to use the hints I got to make the story better. I hope the additional free lines help for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A memorable council meeting**

Five days flew by and Minato had prepared everything he needed to raise hell upon the council. And to pass the time he pulled three more pranks on villagers and members of the civilian council. His toads got a lot of time to search the homes of the council members. The Sandaime had cursed Minatos ideas to prank them. It had taken hours to get rid of the orange slime he had dropped over the Uchiha compound. How he managed to do that they still hadn't figured out. Fugaku was fuming that the _Yellow Prankster_, that was how the villagers called the unknown culprit, dared to humiliate the powerful Uchiha clan.

The meeting was scheduled for 10 o'clock and Jiraiya and Tsunade would accompany him. Shizune would babysit Naruto, Neji and Hinata at the Namikaze mansion. Hiashi had agreed to bring Hinata and Neji over for playtime. Neji and Naruto had gotten along very well at the lake and were good friends now. He was glad that his daughter and his nephew had a new friend because in the Hyuga clan were no children their age. The next younger child was already ten years old. They could play in the gardens and woods behind the mansion as the estate was nearly as big as the Hyuga compound but had fewer buildings and more open land. A great wall secured everything and there was no doubt that Minatos seals were foolproof.

Minato was clothed in his old Hokage attire with the Namikaze crest on his right shoulder. Tsunade wore her normal clothes but had attached the Senju crest on the front of her jacket. Jiraiya didn't wear a clan crest because he came from a civilian family. Sarutobi wore the official Hokage robes.

"Well it's time" Sarutobi said.

"Yes. I will use an illusion barrier to conceal my presence" Minato told them.

They nodded. He wanted to make a big entrance. The four made their way to the council chambers where the other members were already waiting together.

"Good morning everybody" said Sarutobi.

They looked at him and were surprised to see the two loyal Sannin accompany him.

"Well I have a lot of things I want to discuss with the council but first let us greet my students Jiraiya and Tsunade who have returned to Konoha."

A few greetings were changed. Tsunade took the council seat for the Senju clan, Jiraiya sat at a seat at the civilian side. It had been decided to give the Sannin a council seat as his advice was usually invaluable for Konoha. But most of the time he travelled around the countries to gather information.

Sarutobi asked for the council to be quiet. "As you all know I don't get younger and therefore I made Minato Namikaze my successor four years ago. Tragically he sacrificed his life to defeat the Kyubi no Kitsune. But I feel that I am way too old to be Hokage and so I decided that it was time for a younger man to take the mantle. A week ago something happened that can't be described otherwise than a great strike of luck for Konoha. A hero returned to our village and I decided to make him Hokage. I want to introduce my successor. Please show yourself."

Next to Sarutobi Minato dropped the illusion barrier and could be seen by everybody. His face was strict.

"Yon-Yondaime sama" many said.

The shinobi side tried to break the genjutsu they thought the man used. Many shouts of 'Kai' were heard.

"I am no illusion or imposter as you may think" Minato said.

"I think you were told that I used a sealing jutsu powered by Shinigami sama himself to manage the sealing of Kyubi no Kitsune into a newborn boy. This jutsu came at a price and I sacrificed my soul to Shinigami sama to save Konoha from the wrath of the demon. But when I returned to Konoha a week ago, how this was possible I will tell you later, I had to realize that it possibly had been better if I just had let the demon destroy the village." Minatos voice was icy. Outraged screams were his answer.

"SILENCE" Minato bellowed. "I only made one request when I went to seal the demon. That you assholes treated the baby boy I had to place this terrible burden upon as the hero he is for imprisoning the demon. Thanks to him Kyubi will never again see the daylight. He will rot in his prison and he gets weaker and weaker with every day Naruto gets older. But the first thing I had to do was rescuing him from a mob of villagers who chased him through the streets. And nobody bothered to help him. I passed two patrols of the Konoha military police Fugaku. Care to explain why they didn't help him?" He looked murderous at the head of the Uchiha clan.

"Well they didn't recognize that somebody needed help."

"Then they are not suited to uphold the safety of the village. I heard Narutos screams from the main gate, they were much nearer. By the way, the dead villagers are my responsibility. Who wants to kill children has no right to live. I killed them in seconds."

Fugaku was stunned. He had wanted to blame the demon child with the dead villagers but that plan was now thwarted.

"There is more."

Minato looked intently at the elders Homura and Koharu and the civilian side of the council.

"I know that you all demanded for Naruto to be executed. Tell me one reason why I shouldn't execute you instead."

"He is possessed by the demon. We have to kill him before he can kill us." Koharu stated coldly. A civilian councilor seconded that.

"You doubt my abilities as a sealmaster?" Minato asked threateningly.

"No, no Yondaime sama" the same man tried to defend himself.

"I personally did the sealing and Shinigami sama himself lent me his powers. How on earth should the demon be able to escape his prison?"

"When he entered the boy's body he took him over therefore he is the demon now" a pink haired woman stated.

"Nonsense. He is a normal child. Hiashi, you used your Byakugan to look at Naruto. Does he have demonic chakra?" Minato asked.

"No Yondaime sama. His chakra while at a really high level for a child his age is perfectly normal. There are no traces of Youki in his chakra coils."

"Thank you Hiashi. There you heard it. The head of the Hyuga clan, the only clan in the village that is able to see chakra in the body of humans has proven that Naruto is no demon."

"He is dangerous. If he ever loses control, he will attack us and our children" the pink haired woman screeched.

"Councilor Haruno, I will throw you out if don't stop screeching like a banshee. This is a council and not a pub" Minato threatened. She was silent for a moment.

"Also I found out that before Sandaime sama was reinstated as Hokage you used the time to cut the powers of the Hokage and increased your own powers. This is a ninja village. The Hokage is the military dictator and your job is to advise him, not do the job yourself. Danzo sama, would you please show the documents your spies found?"

Minato asked politely. They had agreed to let the council think it had been Danzo and his spies who found evidence.

"Of course Yondaime sama" he answered. "My spies found out that every member of the civilian council, the elders Homura and Koharu and Fugaku Uchiha used the short period between your untimely death and the reinstatement of Sandaime sama to make the following laws. The members of the civilian council were granted a pay rise of fifteen percent. The civilian council got control over the curriculum at the ninja academy, the processes of adoption of orphaned children, the curriculum of the civilian schools, the taxes for imports of other nations and the export of whatever good Konoha had. The military police under the command of the Uchiha clan got free reign over the security of the village and had to report to the Hokage only if the commander of the military police deemed it necessary."

"Ladies and gentlemen. This is bordering treason. Only the Hokage has the right to instate this kind of laws. Even in a period where no Hokage is elected the council's only power is to manage the running business by the existing laws. This was made law by Hashirama Senju the first Hokage."

"We had the approval of the fire daimyo" Homura protested.

"Ah yes, the fire daimyo. I think he wants to tell you something himself. I asked Hiashi to invite his highness to our little meeting and he has listened to every word that was spoken."

"WHAT?" some councilors yelled.

"Yes. I installed a seal under the desks that enables the counterpart of said seal to replay every word. Kind of like a walkie talkie but less easy to track down."

He grinned evilly. When the daimyo had learned what exactly was the content of the laws he had signed to guarantee the continued functionality of the country's hidden village without really checking it because there were so many problems to be solved after the attack he had been mad and agreed to come to Konoha personally to put the scheming council in its place.

"He is very displeased with the ways things have been run in Konoha especially as you have treated the heir of two powerful clans of this village like scum. On top you could have brought a war to Konoha if the rulers of whirlpool country had found out how you treated Naruto" he said furious.

"Why would they bother with the Jinchuriki?" Koharu asked arrogantly.

"Do you know the surname of the king and queen of whirlpool Koharu baka?" Minato asked.

"How dare you call me a baka? I demand respect" she yelled.

"I call you what you deserve to be called. I could call you worse things and you would deserve them all. The surname of the king and queen of whirlpool is Uzumaki."

That got everybody silent. Sharp gasps were the only sounds in the room

"You heard right. Naruto is a prince of whirlpool country. A country that is under the protection of fire country since the marriage of their princess with a shinobi of Konoha. Naruto is their son."

Minato wanted them to sweat before he dropped the rest of the news. He saw that Shikaku, Hiashi and Jiraiya enjoyed the show.

"But how could we not know that we had a princess living in Konoha?" Homura asked outraged.

"To ensure her safety. And she didn't want to be treated like nobility. She wanted to be a Kunoichi. And she was a damned good Kunoichi. Perhaps you remember Kushina Uzumaki or as she was known at the field the red water devil." Sarutobi said.

"But who was her husband?" a man asked.

"My son" Tsunade said.

Everyone looked at her. "You have a son Tsunade sama?" Tsume asked.

"Yes, I kept my son's existence a secret because if my enemies had found out about him, he would be targeted to get me. We were fighting in the second shinobi war when he was born. My fiancé Dan and I decided it would be safer that he got his surname to trick my enemies. Tragically Dan died in battle and I wasn't able to save him. His parents and I decided that my boy would be safer if he grew up with them as I continually was on the battlefield. I visited him as often as I could manage."

"Who was he?" Choza asked.

"That would be me" Minato stated. Nobody wanted to believe it. "I am the son of Tsunade Senju and Dan Namikaze. And if somebody hasn't added two and two successfully, Naruto Uzumakis true name is Naruto Namikaze Senju Uzumaki and he is my son" he thundered.

The civilians were now sweating bullets. Tsunade wanted more. She wanted them to suffer.

"You not only disregarded my dying wish, you treated my son like trash. You tried to kill him. You denied him a family. I know that you sent a messenger to my mother and my sensei Jiraiya after I died sealing the fox and told them that Naruto had died during the sealing. You wanted them outside the village so you could lead from the shadows. You feared their influence" he glared at Koharu and Homura especially.

"Naruto told me how he was treated at the orphanage. They isolated him from the other children, he didn't get enough to eat, he is malnourished, and he was imprisoned in the cellar with rats when possible foster parents came to look for a child to adopt. He was punished for little mishaps like dropping food on the floor. And I found orders of this council which ordered the caretakers at the orphanage to neglect him."

"What?" Inoichi yelled. "I never signed such an order. I won't deny I was wary of Naruto and checked his mental health every six months to make sure the demon couldn't escape or take him over but I would never sign an order to mistreat a child."

Minato simply nodded. He wouldn't hold this against Inoichi. It was reasonable that he wanted to make sure there was no danger from Kyubi.

"The same is true for me. It is the greatest shame to mistreat a pup for an Inuzuka" Tsume agreed.

Shibi Aburame, Choza Akimichi, Hiashi Hyuga, Shikaku Nara, Asuma Sarutobi and the Sandaime looked murderously at the civilian council.

"I heard enough. ANBU take them to Ibiki for interrogation for the suspicion of treason" Minato ordered.

They all protested but it was futile. Swiftly each councilor was taken by two ANBU and vanished at the spot.

"You could have let me have some more fun with them Minato. They didn't suffer enough. I wanted to break some bones for what they did to my grandson" Tsunade said disappointed.

"I'm sure Inoichi and Ibiki will let you help with the questioning mom. You will come at your costs."

Inoichi just nodded. There was no way in hell he would make Tsunade mad.

"So, after this is taken care of, is anybody against Minatos reinstatement as Yondaime Hokage?" Sarutobi asked. Nobody disagreed. "Well welcome back Yondaime sama" he said.

"Thank you Sandaime sama. I have prepared some changes of law beforehand. First all the changes of law installed during the period between my death and Sandaime samas reinstatement are void. Every occurrence that is related to shinobi is only subject of the shinobi council. The council, the civilian part as the shinobi part, is just an advisor to the Hokage. They have no competence to make decisions except in times when the Hokage is not available and time is of importance.

I made a plan how to teach new students at the ninja academy. I got Danzo sama to share his experience with me and we agreed on a new curriculum. I would like to present it to you."

Danzo took another stack of papers and gave it around to the other councilors. They opened the papers.

"As you can see, I put the current curriculum and the new curriculum next to each other to compare them. To understand the changes I want to explain the picture I would like our future shinobi to give to the world. The will of fire is what makes Konoha unique between all the other countries. We are not soulless killer machines but we know when we have to suppress our emotions to get a mission done successfully.

When we are not on the field we show emotions like compassion and caring. We value teamwork above all other things and that is what makes us strong. Our picture of shinobi will be unstoppable on the field but humans in daily life. Our shinobi won't show weakness when they are in battle but they will be as normal as possible for a shinobi in private." Minato turned the paper to the next page.

"The academy will start at six years of age and will educate the children until they are twelve. There will be no exceptions for prodigies. I'm against making children soldiers too early. They can use the time to be better prepared for what will be waiting for them outside the village. They will be able to take special classes.

I looked into the graduation results and luckily we didn't have a decrease of the quality of the new genin until now. But if we don't stop the low teaching level at the academy we will have weaker genin in the future and only the children of the ninja clans might have a chance to pass the exams of the jonin senseis. We can't afford this. The first two years all the students will stay in their respective classes. After this period we will look how far they have come with their studies and training." He looked around to see if everybody was following him.

"Every six months we will evaluate the level the students are at and then the classes will be mixed based on the current level. The students at the bottom will get extra classes to learn the basics properly. Those in the middle will be introduced to more advanced lessons and the top students will have the possibilities to learn special areas. The focus of the training will be on physical education, stealth, strategy and chakra exercises. Every student at the end of the sixth year will be able to walk on water and climb trees."

"Walking on water is low chunin level" Shikaku stated. "It will be our new genin level. I think it is responsible if we give our genins the tools they need to survive" Minato replied.

Everybody nodded. It sounded good and reasonable.

"Each student will be able to climb up with his or her own improvements. Nobody will be labeled for his whole educational career because of their standing at the beginning of the third year. The teachers will be trained to measure the chakra level of each student to find suitable jutsus to learn. I can tell you just now that my son will never be able to produce a normal Bunshin without chakra control on the level of my mother. He just has too much of it and with each day it grows due to the transformed chakra of Kyubi. I know that Itachi Uchiha also had his problems because of his high level. He now uses Kagebunshin and has the problem solved. We have to be flexible with each student and can't use only one way of thoughts.

Those students who have a very good control over their chakra will be invited to attend a special training program for medic nins which my mother will start. We need more good medic nins to keep losses in the field as low as possible. In this regard the students will start with chakra control exercises after eight weeks in the academy. So they are prepared when they will be able to choose the medical classes in their third year. With each ninja we can save we save the money that has been put into the education.

Then we will have extra classes for weapon training. At the moment students only learn the use of shuriken and kunai. I want them to learn a specialized weapon if they show interest in this area.

Then there will be classes for infiltration. It is very important for a ninja to know how he can infiltrate an enemy camp without being caught. Next subject will be specialized traps. Each student has to attend this class for a minimum of one year. Basic traps are obligated for all students. It is up to the student when they take the classes. This is also a new part of the educational system. The students can chose parts of their schedule themselves. They get a list with the subjects needed to graduate at the end of the six years when they start their third year. There will be classes of each needed subject every year so each student has the possibility to get his classes."

"But won't this take a lot of manpower?" Shikaku asked. "We barely have enough ninjas to take the missions that get in."

"Well, we found a solution for this problem. The new teachers will be retired shinobi. It isn't important if a shinobi is injured and can't fight anymore to be a good teacher. The retired shinobi have something invaluable and that is experience. They know what is needed on the field and they can teach it to the students. They can tell them of their own missions and so the students get a feeling what is awaiting them outside of the academy.

I also found a way to lower the amount of missions our ninjas have to fulfill. The fifth and sixth year students will take the D-rank missions in groups of three. This way our genin can take the low level C-rank missions. The students will learn about teamwork at the academy and the teachers will have it easier to build the teams based on the experiences of these missions. Then there will be mock mission scenarios of a higher level.

For example a survival exercise. You all know that we send the chunin aspirants in a survival exercise for the second part. Well we will imitate them on a smaller base for the academy students. Or a mission where the objective is to secure a scroll with important information. The possibilities are nearly unlimited."

Everybody saw the merits of this kind of training at the academy. "As I see it the current curriculum leans too much towards the book knowledge. While some parts of theory are necessary, others are not. And we don't need bookworms in the field. The only ones who have to have extreme book smarts will be the medic nins. But this will be taught in their specific classes. While every student has to attain classes on anatomy they will have a more practical outline.

Then there will be specific classes for the kunoichis. There are some things the girls have to be aware of, one being the dangers female ninjas have to face from enemies like rape. They need to know how they can protect themselves. And therefore we won't tolerate girls who just fawn over one of the male students. We won't send fangirls into the field. They will be weeded out or put to supportive jobs in the village. We want high quality ninjas not cannon fodder" he stated firmly. A lot of the clan heads nodded. They knew of this problem.

"Next thing is that every student will be treated the same. It doesn't matter if the child is from a powerful clan or a civilian family with no shinobi tradition. Best example for a powerful shinobi who didn't have a shinobi background is sensei Jiraiya. He worked his way up to the top without any special bloodline. Every child will get the same chance to bloom through his own hard work."

A lot of the present ninjas were surprised. That was a new thing. But it was kind of true. Konoha was proud that it valued every shinobi the same. Even if the ninjas from the clans were greatly respected. That should start with the academy students.

"Next thing is. All the classes for an alternative career than shinobi will be cancelled. If a child wants to learn them, they can attend the civilian schools. Nobody will be forced to take the path of the shinobi. But the students will need every hour of practice they can get. For the children that come from a clan there will be one hour less at the academy to train in their respective clan techniques two days a week. This is a compromise as the schedule will be upped by a few hours. Academy starts at eight in the morning, lunch break is at one and will last till two, and then the afternoon classes will be until five. That's two more hours than now."

"Are you sure the children will be able to handle this?" Choza asked concerned. "Yes. Think about the amount they are confronted with by their jonin senseis. This way it won't be as much of a shock. And I have very good reasons for this. What will happen if Orochimaru or Madara Uchiha decides that it is time for their revenge against Konoha? They won't hesitate to kill every single person who lives here."

"Madara Uchiha? He must be dead for a long time" Inoichi doubted.

"He is alive and was behind the Kyubi attack" Minato told them.

They were shocked.

"I don't know what he plans but I fear he will be after my son one day as he has the Kyubi sealed inside of him. And I intend to prepare Naruto for what is going to happen in the future."

"I understand. Right now our enemies are weak but given time they will become a threat again" Shikaku summed it up. Minato just nodded.

"I think we can agree with your plan concerning the ninja academy" he said. "Even if this is just troublesome."

Everybody grinned at this statement. This was just typical for Shikaku.

"Next topic is our government. The processes are way too complicated and too much unnecessary paperwork floods the Hokages desk. This will have to stop. The simple processes will be handled by genin which have dropped out of the ninja program. As we stop the civilian classes at the academy we will put up a new kind of career. The office ninja. They will handle the incoming requests and sort them into two kinds. Those who are minor tasks that can be handled by a normal office ninja and those who require the Hokages attention. This way the workload will be significantly smaller. I don't intend to spend all day in the tower. I want to spend time with my son and I have to keep myself in top shape if we are attacked."

That was reasonable. And the idea to capitalize the educated academy graduates that were not fit to survive in the field but wanted to stay ninjas for office work had its merits.

"We will have an extra class for those who don't pass the test of the jonin sensei after they are sent back to the academy. If they are fit to work at the tower after this time, they will do that. If not they will drop out of the program completely and become civilians" Minato explained. They nodded their approval.

"I will start an investigation at all our departments. I want to weed out corruption from the start. Then every ninja has to take a complete medical checkup so we can see the level of our forces at the moment. Those who have slacked in their training will have to get back to their top form unless they want to be demoted to the rank their abilities are currently." That got a few odd looks.

"You don't think I would let my subordinates slack in their training?" he asked as if daring them to counter his thoughts.

"There will be exceptions for example the teachers at the academy as those will mostly be veterans. But everybody who has attained the rank of chunin or higher will have to prove his ranking. I won't demote chunin to genin without a very good reason, I would ridicule the chunin exams if I did, but I will see if they are at low chunin, mid chunin or high chunin level.

And missions will be given accordingly. A high level chunin will get better missions than a low level chunin. And a low chunin that is way too weak will be set on probation for his rank. If he or she can prove the strength they should have after a period of three months after the first verdict there won't be consequences, if not, let's just say I will be very displeased and take the appropriate measures."

Everybody now completely realized that this Hokage wouldn't be a pushover. He would reign with a strong hand and he knew what he wanted to achieve. A very strong but still humanly Konoha.


	11. Chapter 11

**Reinstatement of the Yondaime **

It was two days after the memorable meeting in the council chambers that the Sandaime Hokage called everybody who lived in Konoha to assemble at the bottom of the Hokage tower. The villagers were curious why the Hokage called for the whole village to assemble.

At the roof stood the two Hokages, the fire daimyo, Jiraiya and Tsunade the two Sannin and in the back Shizune with Naruto in her arms.

"I guess it's time" the Sandaime said.

Everybody nodded and Naruto looked curious. Sarutobi walked to the edge of the roof.

"Villagers of Konoha. This day is a reason to celebrate. Three years ago our hero the Yondaime Hokage was able to defeat the demon fox Kyubi no Kitsune. We all mourned for our fallen friends and heroes. But through a strike of good luck one hero was sent back to help us to protect Konoha in the future. As you all know I wanted to retire four years ago when Minato Namikaze took over the mantle as the Yondaime Hokage. Now I want to announce that I can finally do this. As Shinigami sama sent him back to us. As of now he will lead Konoha again. I want to present to you the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze Senju Uzumaki."

Minato walked next to Sarutobi and lowered the Hokage hat he wore on his head. When he was visible everybody began to cheer. Their hero was back. When the first joy ceased some began to murmur. Why did the Sandaime call the Yondaime with two extra surnames? And from where did they know the name Uzumaki?

"Villagers of Konoha" Minato began. "As you all can see I have been resurrected by Shinigami sama himself. I returned to help Konoha reach a glorious future" cheers erupted.

Now with the strongest Hokage ever back there would be nothing they had to fear. And probably he would end the existence of the demon brat.

"But the real reason I was sent back was to right a crime nearly everybody here committed." That got the crowd silent.

"I only had one wish when I died. For you to see the boy I placed the horrible burden of being the prison of Kyubi upon as a hero. But you denied my wish. You demanded his execution. I know everything and I doubted my decision to sacrifice not only my own life but also the life of my only son for the survival of Konoha."

The crowd was terrified. His only son? The Yondaime had a son? Some of the more intelligent villagers seemed to connect the hints and look horror struck. Had the Yondaime really used his own child for the sealing?

"It seems that some of you have realized it."

He waved for Shizune, Tsunade and Jiraiya to come forward. When they reached him, he took Naruto from Shizunes arms.

"This is my son, Naruto Namikaze Senju Uzumaki. And if anybody of you dares to hurt him again for something he never had any control over, be sure I will see consequences. He saves you every day just because he lives. Because of him, Kyubi can't destroy anything anymore and will cease to exist when Naruto turns twenty."

Minato had decided it was necessary to tell Naruto that he was a jinchuriki and saved Konoha every day with his sacrifice. Even if he was just three years old. He had taken his time to explain everything with easy words to his son and to destroy his fears. He explained the sealing and that the power for the seal came from the god of death himself. And that he wanted Naruto to be seen as the hero he was and that he would make sure that the villagers will see this.

"And there is more" Tsunade now interrupted. "As you may have noticed, Naruto also wears the Senju name. The reason is that Minato is my son and Naruto is my grandson. Naruto is the heir to the Senju clan, the clan that produced three of our four Hokages. If you think the beatings Jiraiya gets when he does something perverted are severe, you will have to find a new definition for the word if anybody hurts my grandson for saving this village" she thundered.

Many people in the crowd shrunk fearfully. The strength of Tsunade was legendary and also her beatings of Jiraiya.

The next person to walk forward nobody had expected to be there and least to speak last.

"I am very displeased with the behavior of Konoha towards their heroes. It wasn't much Minato asked for when he gave his life to seal Kyubi away. But you spat at his memory and shunned his son. More your idiocy could have provoked a war with whirlpool country." He let the words sunk in.

"Perhaps some of you remember that during the third shinobi war whirlpool was attacked by the forces of Iwa. We were able to help whirlpool to survive but they had to take great losses. To send a clear warning to Iwa that if they tried to attack whirlpool again fire country and Konoha would retaliate, we made an alliance with the royal family. The youngest princess of whirlpool, who also was a strong Kunoichi, Kushina Uzumaki was sent to marry one of our strongest shinobi. Who she would marry was her choice.

When she arrived she and Minato Namikaze Senju fell in love and Kushina decided that he would be the one she wanted to marry. As Minato was the great grandson of the first Hokage and practically royalty of Konoha there was nothing to hinder this union. If whirlpool found out that you wanted to execute the grandson of the current king and queen they would call for blood and I wouldn't deny it to them. How stupid can you be?"

Now even the dumbest realized what could have happened. Many of them had the feeling they wanted to throw up. Even if Whirlpool was a small country Konoha was nowhere near ready to fight another war after the losses of the Kyubi attack.

"Why did nobody tell us the heritage of the boy? We didn't know the consequences" someone shouted.

"SILENCE" Minato thundered. "It doesn't matter that Naruto is practically royalty. You mistreated a child that did nothing wrong. You doubted my abilities as a sealmaster and just believed what the gossip told you. You ignored the law of the Sandaime that nobody was to speak of Narutos burden to protect him. I cancelled this law as I think that your children will probably understand better than you that a prison isn't the prisoner. If I managed to catch Orochimaru and threw him in a cell that sucked his chakra so he was defenseless, would the cell turn into Orochimaru?" Minato shouted.

Now a lot of people found themselves stupid. Of course the cell would not be Orochimaru. With this Minato turned back and walked away from the edge, the others following him.

"I think they got the message Minato" Jiraiya said.

"I hope it for them. I won't show mercy for anybody who will hurt Naruto" he said.

* * *

The next few days were interesting. The members of the civilian council were found guilty of treason except for one man who didn't know what he signed. He was just removed from his post as a councilor as he was not fit to bear this responsibility. Inoichi and Ibiki found out some things Sarutobi never had thought would be possible for citizens of Konoha to think of.

Homura and Koharu were involved in the attempted kidnapping of Hinata Hyuga. Kumo had offered them money and political support if they managed to let their ninja escape of Konoha with the girl so that Kumo could start their own powerful clan of byakugan users. Hiashi demanded their execution for this. Minato granted the request.

Fugaku Uchiha planned a coup d'état to take control over Konoha in a few years. He thought it was the birthright of the Uchiha clan to rule Konoha. He thought the Uchihas were superior to everybody and that everybody had to bow to them. His execution with those of the main culprits in the conspiracy was scheduled for the same day as those of Koharu and Homura.

The civilian councilors, after having the pleasure of meeting Tsunade in the interrogation chambers, were stripped of their posts and thrown into jail for a period of twenty-five years. That was after they were able to leave the hospital. For some that meant a few months as Tsunade refused to heal them and forbid all the other medics to give them more than basic treatment of their injuries.

Their property was taken from them and added to the village vaults but a part was given to Naruto to make up for the things done to him. Nobody dared to question the decisions of the Hokage. The executions were done in public to remember everybody what happened to those who committed treason to the leaf. Minato made no compromises with his new rule. Kumo was the first other ninja village who got to know this.

* * *

They sent a new ambassador who demanded for their jailed ninja to be set free and for Konoha to pay reparations for the injuring of the peace contract. They demanded to get the head of the Hyuga clan to be send to them to make up for the wrongdoings against Kumo. Minato had grinned evilly to the ambassador.

"You think Kumo has any right to demand anything from Konoha?" he asked coldly.

His blue eyes hard as steel didn't leave the man. The Kumo nin was about to learn why he could scare away whole armies with just one look.

"Kumo tried to kidnap a three year old girl to get the secrets of the byakugan a kekkei genkai that belongs to Konoha. And you have the audacity to demand anything as reparation from me? Know your place. It was me who stopped your ninja and you can be glad he didn't die. I let him be interrogated by my top specialists at this department and I got to know some very interesting things.

Tell your Raikage that the yellow flash has returned and that I won't budge an inch from my position. If necessary I will meet your army personally and if you doubt the outcome of such a battle ask the Tsuchikage, he can tell you. I was able to stop the most powerful of the bijus the Kyubi no Kitsune don't think I fear your forces. I'm a nasty enemy and I intend to show everybody that I'm not to be taken lightly. Konoha won't pay any reparation but if Kumo dares to try anything against us, be sure I won't hesitate to declare war upon your nation."

The Kumo ambassador was frightened. He could practically feel the power of the Hokage. The Raikage had miscalculated. The Hokage wouldn't be overthrown by anybody. It would be unwise to anger him.

"Furthermore you will send the little girl, that has been made the jinchuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata as a hostage to Konoha. I won't tolerate any aggression against Konoha. From nobody. Tell your Raikage my conditions. If he agrees, your ninja will be sent back to you. Remember. Don't mess with Konoha. We didn't win the last wars by being weak. We are the strongest of the great shinobi nations for a good reason. Now go. Don't waste my time anymore." The Kumo ninja left the Hokages office.

"That was an impressive display of your powers Hokage sama" Danzo said impressed.

"Thank you Danzo. It was time to remember the other countries that we are not to be underestimated. To ask for Hiashi to be send to Kumo. Preposterous. As if we would let Kumo get the secrets of one of our strongest clans. They wronged us and I will show them exactly what that means."

"Of course Hokage sama. I wanted to ask when Naruto would come over to my orphanage again to play with the other kids. Sai asked me if he could play again with him soon. It seems he has befriended him."

"Well he could come over the day after tomorrow. Mom wanted to go shopping with him today and tomorrow I wanted to take him with me when I visit Hiashi at the Hyuga compound. Naruto has befriended Neji and Hinata and he wants to play with them again."

"I will tell Sai. He will be happy." Minato nodded.

He was glad Naruto was able to find new friends. And the orphans at Danzo's orphanage were really nice to him.

"What do you intend to do with the rest of the Uchiha clan?"

"First the walls around the clan compound are destroyed as we speak. They won't live this isolated anymore. Second the belongings of the clan had been transferred to Konoha. The Uchiha clan has to pay rent for their houses. Third the military police has been taken from their control and is put under my command. Fourth all privileges of the clan have been canceled.

Every member of the Uchiha clan that was involved into the conspiracy but hasn't been executed is either under arrest or if it was just a minor case of knowing about it but not taking part in it, are under supervision of the ANBU. I don't intend to punish those who haven't been part of this like the children or some civilians. If there is no doubt that they are innocent in this matter their property will be given back to them. I won't punish a whole clan for the mistakes of some of them. But until we know everything the property will be frozen."

"A good course of action Hokage sama. This way nobody will be able to accuse you of injustice. An open display of each crime will help the citizens to get used to the new regime."

"Yes and it is time that the hero worship of kekkei genkai is put to an end. They are very useful tools for the ninjas that have them, but we can't allow ourselves to ignore everybody else who doesn't have a kekkei genkai. I don't have the ability to use mokuton like my great grandfather but I am able to defeat those who can use sharingan without problems."

"What about Naruto? Did he inherit the kekkei genkai of the Senju clan?"

"I don't know if he can use it. But he is only three. I know that he inherited the Uzumaki ability to heal at inhuman speed. One night of sleep and most injuries are healed completely without a scar."

"That's amazing" Danzo said impressed.

"Yes it is. I was always jealous for Kushina healing much faster than me. Minor wounds healed in minutes or hours. One reason why she was that difficult to beat in a fight."

"Most people would have thought that this would be the power of the Kyubi who doesn't want his vessel to die because then he would die too."

"That maybe possible for severe wounds but why should the fox bother with little wounds like cuts that are nasty but not life threatening? No as long as there is a chance to survive the wounds Naruto receives will heal. Kushina was even able to regrow a lost ear after one extremely fierce battle in the war."

Danzo was stunned. He had never heard of such a bloodline. To have the bearer of it in Konoha would be invaluable for the future. But he knew better than to suggest that Naruto should spread this ability to as many children as possible. Minato was strictly against turning humans into breeding stocks. There was the possibility for those males who were the last of their clans to take more than one woman to rebuild their clan, but it was optional. If Naruto wanted this, it would be his decision in the future, but if he turned out to be like his father, he would stay with one woman he loved more than anything.

"Well, I think you will have to teach your son one more thing before he starts with the academy besides a few basics" Danzo pondered.

"And what would that be?" Minato asked incredulously.

"How to escape fangirls. Now, as everybody knows his heritage, a lot of girls will be after him."

Minato slapped his forehead with his palm. "Damn you are right. As heir to two clans he would be extremely popular. Well, I can only hope that the ban of fangirls who are not fit to be kunoichis will help a bit. If not, well it will be good speed training. Perhaps he will be able to learn hiraishin no jutsu earlier than me."


	12. Chapter 12

**First day at the academy**

"Daddy hurry, I don't want to be late for my first day at the academy" Naruto wailed.

"Just a little patience Naruto. I thought Danzo had taught you this" Minato responded.

"Yes Danzo sensei always says that a ninja has to be patient but I'm so curious how it will be and if I can make new friends there. I can't wait to learn how to be a good ninja. I want to become the best. One day I will be Hokage just like you daddy and protect Konoha and my precious people."

Minato smiled. His son hadn't lost any of his enthusiasm in the last three years. For one year now he had trained with the other children at Danzo's orphanage in the mornings as he had begged him to allow him to train with his best friend Sai. Minato had sent Shizune to overlook the training the first few weeks as he wanted to be sure that Danzo didn't overdo it in the training but Shizunes observations was that he was a strict trainer but had taken the warning of Minato not to turn the children into emotionless soldiers to heart. He asked a lot from the children but not more than they were able to give.

Naruto had had difficulties during the first training lesson but then he got used to Danzo's training regime and enjoyed getting stronger with each session. His trainers were impressed by his determination and endurance. He motivated the other children to give their best and they improved greatly. They would be able to shine at the academy easily. Four of the children of the orphanage would start academy together with Naruto. Also his friends Hinata Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi would be in his year.

Some children he met didn't like him. First was Sakura Haruno. Her mother had been on the civilian council and was in prison due to her treasonous actions but Sakura blamed Naruto for this. Next was Sasuke Uchiha. He was wary around the blond boy. His clan had been shunned by a majority of Konoha as it got known that they had planned a coup d'état. A thorough investigation had been started and nothing had been left in the dark.

Sasuke was lucky that his older brother Itachi had fully cooperated with the ANBU and had protected him saying that Sasuke had just been three years old and did know nothing about the conspiracy. Even if their father had been the leader of the conspiracy, Itachi managed to make a good impression with the Hokage. Itachi had just been promoted to chunin after the previous exams and wanted to show everybody that he earned the right to be called a proud shinobi of Konoha. Even if he was only ten years old.

Even if Minato didn't want for children to be soldiers too early it would have been ridiculous to send graduated genin back to the academy just because of their age. The new rules would be installed for those who were still attending the academy or started it after the event.

Sasukes mother had taken her own life when it became clear that the Uchiha clan had fallen in shame so Sasuke only had his older brother left of his family. One of the civilian Uchihas had taken the two boys in after she and her family had been cleared of all potential charges. Tragically she died of an illness two years later so Itachi had taken over to raise his little brother.

He was happy with Itachi even if he had to work hard to earn enough money for them to live but as Itachi got promoted into ANBU at the age of thirteen, just a month before he started at the academy things became easier.

Yugito Nii, the girl from Kumo that had been sent to secure the obedience of her village with her status as a jinchuriki had taken the role of an annoying older cousin to Naruto. She lived with Anko Mitarashi as Minato didn't want the girl to be spoiled nor hated and with Anko looking after her she would become a strong kunoichi.

Anko was very grateful towards Minato as he had been able to remove the cursed seal Orochimaru had given her years prior. It had taken him four months of studying the mechanisms of the seal but together with his mother and cousin the seal had been deciphered and then removed. Also Minato had given Anko the long overdue promotion to special jonin the council had always denied her due to not being trustworthy even if the Sandaime wanted to promote her.

So Yugito often teased Naruto with her new abilities. As she was three years his senior she had three years more of training. She also had the advantage that her biju the Nibi no Nekomata was much more likable than the Kyubi no Kitsune and helped her to learn how to control the bijus chakra. It led to Naruto training even harder to not be outdone by his cousin.

Kiba Inuzuka thought of Naruto as a rival he wanted to show up. He didn't like that Hinata liked Naruto so much and not him. So he tried everything to get Hinatas attention and let Naruto look like an idiot. But to Kibas displeasure it was not that easy to make Naruto look bad. He was extremely talented and learned new things with ease. Most of the time his plans backfired and he himself looked like an idiot. Narutos only problem was to pay attention when he thought something was boring.

Two boys two years older than him had tried to beat up Naruto four weeks before the academy started. Their fathers had been sent to prison with Sakuras mother and they wanted revenge for their families. Sadly they were no match for Naruto and he tricked them with ease and let them lay on the ground with a few bruises to go home when they woke up.

Other nations now knew of the son of the Hokage but even Iwa didn't dare to try a kidnapping inside the walls of Konoha. Minato had taken the two top specialists in sealing in the ANBU and tested every seal at the protective walls around the village. They mapped the seals and set up a completely new seal array that worked three times more efficient. One spy quickly found out that the new array worked perfectly when he was caught trying to infiltrate the village. Ibiki had a lot of fun that week and Minato sent the rests of the spy back to Iwa with the note he didn't want to keep what wasn't his.

* * *

Minato left the mansion with Naruto at half past seven. They had enough time to reach the academy as the walk would only take ten minutes. But his son was just impatient. This was an important day for him and he wanted to get to the academy as soon as possible. On their way they were greeted by a lot of villagers. After Minatos outburst during his reinstatement speech, many finally understood the difference between Naruto and the Kyubi and were ashamed that they had just believed the gossipers.

Most of the rumors were initially spread by the old civilian council and they stopped with them being arrested. A lot of people took a liking to Naruto after they observed him for a while. Especially the young girls. Naruto was uncomfortable with all the fangirls and asked his father what he could do about it. Minato told him he had to be firm when he told them that he wasn't interested in a relationship but polite. Needless to say that this didn't solve Narutos problems as many girls just told each other that he was just too shy to admit his feelings. It possibly only got him more fangirls. As Minato had predicted Naruto got really good at running away and his speed increased.

Soon they arrived at the ninja academy. A lot had changed in the last three years. The grounds had been rebuilt to fit the new needs of training schedules the students had. After Danzos ROOT unit had been dissolved, Minato had taken his time to talk with Danzo where each ninja could serve best. The best of ROOTs ninjas had been transferred to the normal ANBU, some became jonin and chunin and the veterans and ten specially chosen members became teachers at the academy.

Konoha started a new program to prepare younger ninjas that wanted to teach at the academy themselves. They had to be at least chunin for two years to be even considered ready for teaching future generations of ninjas as Minato emphazidedt the value of experience for teachers. Now the old teachers either were put into the normal ninja duty or were reschooled to be fit for their jobs. Some had been favoring children from the important clans over civilian children for years.

When Minato was told this, he called all the academy teachers in and asked coldly if they knew what they had done with their acting. They had willingly weakened Konoha as a lot of talented children hadn't been given the chance to reach their full potential and become an asset to Konoha. He had fired the biased teachers. Thankfully he found enough volunteers within the ROOT and normal veterans to get the academy running again.

A lot of villagers saw the changes as they were visited by ten to twelve year olds regularly to take the 'missions' they had put in with the Hokage that until then the rookie genins had taken. For Minato it was a nice increase in the village funds as the academy students' payment went to the village. They profited from it as Minato used the earned money to get new equipment for the academy.

Naruto looked in awe when he saw the academy building. He promised himself he would learn everything the teachers could show him and be one of the best students if not the best. He would wait until he could tell where he stood. As his father and Danzo sensei always remembered him there always was someone stronger and nobody could rest on what he had achieved so far. To become really strong the only way was to work hard constantly.

He looked around if he could find one of his friends but the only one he knew was Sasuke Uchiha and he didn't want to argue with the boy just now. But it was funny to see that he wasn't the only one who had problems with fangirls. Sasuke got a lot of admiring looks himself and as Naruto could see he was quite uncomfortable with it.

The teachers that waited outside for the firstyears greeted Minato politely and he returned the greetings. A few minutes later the group of orphans with Sai between them arrived accompanied by one of the caretakers. Sai came over to greet Naruto and the two boys started a conversation how they would show everybody that they would be great ninjas. Minato smiled at them.

Hinata and her father arrived five minutes later and a lot of parents showed respect for the Hyuga clan head. Hinata was uncomfortable with all the looks. Naruto had managed to get her out of her shell somewhat but she still was very shy and only opened up after some time when she got to know the other people. Well it had gotten better after she played with Ino. The bold girl tried to get Hinata to believe in herself more. With two outspoken friends like Naruto and Ino Hinata grew to be less afraid to fail.

But it would be a long way to go for her until she lost her insecure attitude. When Ino found out that Hinata liked Naruto a lot she began to tease her a bit. That got Hinata to develop a whole new scale of face colors. Naruto often asked if she didn't feel well when she blushed hard but she always shook her head. But Naruto couldn't help but be concerned. Hinata was his first ever friend and he felt responsible for her wellbeing. He had also promised Neji to look after her as he wasn't able to do it at the academy.

Sometimes Naruto thought of Neji as Hinatas overprotective older brother. The boy could get scary if he had the opinion that anybody was a threat to his cousin.

Thanks to Minato Neji hadn't been branded with the caged bird seal. Minato had banned any seal that could be seen as a threat to Konohas ninjas and therefore military strength. A member of the branch family that was in danger to experience pain that could damage his brain due to the seal fell in this category. As he demonstrated with a caged bird seal that was drawn onto a special piece of paper he was able to activate it. And he had just observed the main family members that used the handsign on branch members.

After this display of misuse potential he had ordered to free every member that had been branded with the seal. Until the Hyuga clan found a possibility to protect their kekkei genkai without endangering the bearer of a seal it was prohibited to use it. The elders of the Hyuga clan had been outraged but Minato was well within his rights as Hokage to do everything to ensure his soldiers safety from enemies. Hiashi had silently celebrated as he had always wanted to unite the two families in the Hyuga clan. Without the seal there were no differences anymore.

* * *

Tsunade had started her medical training program and the first absolvents were now working at the hospital or in the field. She had started with genins that were already working in the field to help their teams in the long run. For the first time Minato had to rearrange the genin teams so that the missions still could be done. The new medics in training needed at least a year to get the basics down until Tsunade allowed them to be send as support for missions. The success of her program was stunning. They had twenty percent less losses on missions because every team had a medic with them. The medical trainees that finished their first year of studies still got additional training three times a week to further develop their abilities.

Some also chose to do full time training, especially some kunoichis that saw Tsunade and Shizune as their role models. There weren't that many strong kunoichis they could admire. Most of the well known ninjas were shinobi. The medical lessons the students at the academy got where also very promising. As children learned much easier than adults their achievements surpassed Minatos expectations by far.

The last graduation class had been fantastic. Thirty-nine children graduated and under them were ten that had medical training. The jonin senseis had been impressed by the quality the new genins showed and from the thirteen teams that were build six passed their tests. That was nearly half of the graduates. Before they had a year where only two teams of eleven were fit to serve Konoha.

Tsunade now had plans to start a special program for those who didn't want to be ninjas as they didn't think they would be able to fight well enough but wanted to serve Konoha as medics. After she presented the advantages of such a program to Minato and the council and also demonstrated how this program could be financed they agreed that it would benefit Konoha if they had specially trained medics that would work only at the village. With assisting the field medics trained at the academy to be both ninja and medic the survival rate of their ninjas would increase again.

The teachers called for the firstyears to line up in alphabetical order. It would be three new classes, which started this year. Sixty-six children had been enrolled for the ninja academy so each class would start with twenty-two children. Naruto listened intently when his name would be called. The first class had already been called and he hadn't been one of the children that had been called. Two of his friends from Danzos orphanage were called and he had wished them good luck.

The list for the second class reached N and a cousin of Shikamaru was called for this class. Naruto now knew he would be in the third class as Namikaze came before Nara. It wasn't important who was in which class as his dad had explained him. After two years the remaining students would be mixed according to their performances at a test that would be taken at the beginning of the third year.

Then some girls began to squeal. The last name for the second class had been Sasuke Uchiha. Well, perhaps it was good if Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be in one class at the beginning. The teachers started to call the students for the third class. First was Choji Akimichi, then after some time Hinata was called, then Naruto, Shikamaru and last of his friends Sai. To Narutos relieve Kiba had been called with the first class. So he wouldn't be bothered by the boy during the first two years in class.

Naruto knew the children of the powerful clans had been spread over the three classes to grant somewhat equal strength in the classes. In the first class were Kiba of the Inuzuka clan, Shino of the Aburame clan, Hitomi of the Uchiha clan and Ino of the Yamanaka clan. In the second class were Sasuke of the Uchiha clan, Reina of the Nara clan, Manami of the Akimichi clan and Yakumo of the Kurama clan. In the third class were Hinata of the Hyuga clan, Shikamaru of the Nara clan, Choji of the Akimichi clan and Naruto of the Senju and Namikaze clan. Most of the other children were from civilian families like Sakura Haruno, from Danzos orphanage, from the public orphanage or minor Shinobi families that didn't fulfill the necessities to become an official clan.

Minato as Hokage greeted the new students at the academy and remembered them that they were about to start their education to become ninjas of Konoha. He emphasized that it would be a hard path they had chosen but it was an honorable path. He would be looking forward to someday meet them when they would graduate and get their first missions from him. He wished everybody good luck and the will power to see this way to the end. The new students and their parents applauded him and then the children were lead to their respectable classrooms.

Minato looked proud as he saw his son vanish in the building. He would do his best to realize his goals. Of this he was sure. He turned around and made his way to the Hokage tower where his daily work awaited him.

* * *

Naruto sat down in the third row of tables at the window side of the room. He sat in the middle of the table with Hinata to his right and Sai to his left. Shikamaru and Choji sat two rows behind them with a boy from a ninja family that specialized in kenjutsu as Naruto had been told. In the class were eight girls and fourteen boys. Four of the girls openly fawned over Naruto, two girls were angry because they wanted to be in the same class as Sasuke, one girl didn't understand the hype the other girls made because of some boys, she stated she wanted to become a strong kunoichi and not a trophy wife of some clan heir.

This girl rose in Narutos list of people he respected a lot. The last girl was Hinata. She liked Naruto a lot but she also was his friend for years now and knew he despised this fangirl behavior. The only way to get his respect was to work for her own goals as hard as possible. And she intended to do just that. Her clan would punish her if she wasn't one of the top students. As Naruto was in her class there would be some room for some better results than hers but she was expected to at least become the top kunoichi. In her class she would possibly only have a rival in Mai Nakasawa as she was a tomboy and took her training as a kunoichi serious.

Perhaps Mai would like to be friends with her. It would be nice to have a female fried in her class. In the whole year she knew were some other female students that had potential. There was Ino, Reina Nara and Manami Akimichi. They would take their training somewhat serious. When she had asked Naruto the day before if he was nervous if he could make his father proud, he had given her an interesting answer.

"You want to know if I am nervous because it will be difficult to meet the expectations that everybody has for me? Well I don't think I am nervous, it's more like I am excited. I don't know if I am able to be the best, but it doesn't matter right now. We have six years to learn everything the academy can teach us, that's plenty of time. And the real challenge will start after the second year. Daddy told me that we will be tested at the beginning of the third year for our abilities. Then the classes will be mixed new consisting of the results of the test.

My first goal is to be in the first third of the year after this test. I don't care if I am the top student or rank fifth. I know that there will be strong students, but I want to measure my own abilities against them. I can only get stronger if I have strong classmates that motivate me to work even harder."

Hinata had felt better after this. Naruto was right. They had time to learn. She only had to stay in the top third of the year, then she could stay with Naruto. And by watching him, she had a fantastic role model how she could get stronger. Never give up and try until you get something right.

Neji had told her that they had a strange student in his year that couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. He was willed to become a ninja just by using taijutsu and weapons. The Hokage had allowed him to enter the academy and also suggested for Lee Rock to try to learn about seals as he could use some chakra and therefore activate seals. You didn't need to mold it like it was necessary for jutsus. Thus far Lee seemed to rectify the trust that was put into him. He worked very hard and got a lot better in his taijutsu. Even though he needed a lot more training to become proficient but he was second best in taijutsu after Neji in his class.

Now their teacher began to talk to them. "Welcome to the ninja academy. My name is Renzo Jokamoto and you will call me Renzo sensei. For the next two years I will be your teacher. You will learn the basics that are needed to become a good shinobi. To get something clear right from the start. I won't play favorites on anyone. Not a clan heir or the Hokage's son. In this class you are equal to each other and everybody will only be ranked by his or her achievements. This year we will start with physical education. To be a ninja you have to be in physical top form. Most of the time when you fight on missions you will use taijutsu or weapons, especially when stealth is needed.

Ninjutsu emits chakra and therefore can give away your position to your enemy. Therefore a ninja that is unable to hold himself in hand to hand combat is a lousy ninja. We will work on your dodging abilities, your throwing abilities and combinations of both. In the theoretical part we will cover weapon making and what can be used as a weapon if you have used all your own weapons. A ninja has to be inventive if he wants to survive. We will also cover strategy. You will be presented with situations and have to think of ways how to fulfill a given job best."

Some of the children took notes of this, Naruto was one of them. His grandmother had always told him that information was invaluable in the ninja world and could make the difference between success and death.

"Next thing is we will cover important history and the history of the other elemental countries. It is important to know about our own history but it will help you if you have missions to other countries when you know something about their history too. Next part of your schedule is hiding techniques. A good ninja is never seen if he doesn't want to be seen. Hokage sama had an idea to help you to work on your hiding and escaping skills and get the citizens of Konoha to be more aware of their surroundings. You will get small tasks you have to do while not being seen. You will get marks on how well you did. What exactly these tasks will be will be told to you when you have mastered the basics of hiding and evasion."

Naruto was curious. It sounded like his father would let them prank Konoha.

"In the next year you will learn how to mold chakra. We will do basic exercises to mold it and how you can control it. We won't start learning jutsus until the beginning of the second half of the third year. We want to be sure that you have proper control before we begin to teach you jutsus. At the end of your time at the academy you have to be able to show the proctors that you are able to do a kawarimi no jutsu, a henge no jutsu and a bunshin no jutsu. It is not important which sort of bunshin you produce. It can be the basic sort or a more advanced version.

You have to demonstrate that you are able to use one elemental jutsu. It will be a D-level jutsu and you will learn about it at the fifth year. You will be tested in your taijutsu and your abilities in throwing kunai and shuriken. The targets will be stationary or moving. You also will be demonstrating both abilities. To hit your target while standing in one spot or moving around. You will show that you can detect and break a low level genjutsu."

Some of the students looked intimidated. That were a lot of things they had to be able to do at the end.

"Well, we have some exceptions of these rules at the academy. There are students that simply are unable to perform in some areas. They will take other exams to make up for their deficits in these areas. We have special classes for learning the use of different weapons and a class for those who want to learn about sealing. Those two for example can replace the ninjutsu or genjutsu part if someone is unable to mold chakra correctly. You can fail in one category out of five during your exam but your marks in the other four parts have to make up for it.

This is because we have ninjas in our forces that just don't need to use ninjutsu or genjutsu to be successful. One prime example is Gai Maito. He is able to use jutsus but he just doesn't want to. He is one of the best taijutsu fighters in all elemental countries even if he is really young. Then we have a young chunin, Kurenai Yuuhi. She specializes in genjutsu and nearly never uses ninjutsu because she tricks her opponents. Hayate Gekko is an expert in kenjutsu. He is well on his way to the top with mostly not using ninjutsu or genjutsu.

You see. It doesn't matter that you have flashy jutsus what matters is that you are able to fulfill the missions you get. How you do this is up to yourself and depends on the kind of mission you get. Nobody can be able to do everything. That is the reason why we work in teams. When you graduate from the academy you will be put in cells of three genin under the command of one experienced jonin sensei. The cells will be chosen by Hokage sama and he will make sure that they are well balanced for the abilities of the cell members and their teamwork.

The fifth and sixth year's students will take little 'missions' for villagers to learn about teamwork. Based on those the teachers will make recommendations to Hokage sama which persons would make a good team. One thing you have to remember all the time. A team enables you to get your job done. Therefore you have to look out for each other. Nobody but the very best can sometimes do a job singlehandedly. But a team nearly always has success."

The students nodded. Those from ninja families or clans had been told of the old teams their parents were in and some were still really good friends. Shikamarus and Chojis fathers along with Inos father were well known as the Ino-Shika-Cho team. They were famous as one of the best teams ever. Or if one thought of the legendary Sannin. Even if Orochimaru had defected Konoha some years ago. When they were a team they were nearly unbeatable. Konoha valued teamwork as the most important skill a ninja had to have.


	13. Chapter 13

**First practical lesson**

It had been one week since Naruto was at the academy. Some lessons he found boring but most of the time they learned new things that were very interesting. They had started with the history of the founding of Konoha. Naruto liked the stories very much especially as his great great grandfather was the Shodaime Hokage. They were taught about the great battles that were fought in this time and how the Uchiha and the Senju clan agreed on an alliance and founded Konoha. How Madara Uchiha in the end left Konoha and tried to kill Hashirama Senju with the help of the Kyubi no Kitsune.

"Well today Kyubi isn't a threat anymore as he is sealed in Naruto and can't escape" Renzo sensei told them.

A lot of the students looked curiously at Naruto. He just smiled. He was glad that the times when he was shunned and attacked because he was the Kyubi jinchuriki were over.

Next subject was herbology. They were taught about different plants and their uses for shinobi. Some were edible and helped if food was low on missions. Others were poisonous and should be avoided. Or they could be used against enemies. This subject was something Hinata was good at. She liked plants and knew a lot about this topic. She surprised her teacher as she could tell some properties of healing plants. Naruto knew she wanted to take some of the medical classes his grandmother gave when they would be able to choice some subjects.

They learned about different kinds of weapons and their use. Mai listened intently. Most girls just looked dreamingly at Naruto and fantasized how good he would look using some of the weapons. Renzo noted their names. They would be given the first two years to stop their foolish behavior. If they would still be fangirls after the end of these two years they would be transferred to the civilian schools. The Hokage didn't tolerate girls who didn't take their ninja career serious.

If they admired one of their male classmates and intensified their training to impress him it would be okay but they wouldn't let them become cannon fodder because they couldn't defend themselves. Konoha established a reputation within the elemental countries and it wouldn't be ruined by some stupid girls.

* * *

This afternoon the girls and the boys were separated. The girls of all three classes had special training for kunoichis together and the boys would do sparring matches against each other. They would compete with the students of the other classes. The matches were drawn coincidentally.

Hinata was kind of nervous what the kunoichi classes would involve. She really hoped it wasn't something too embarrassing. She was happy when she saw that their teacher was Kurenai Yuuhi, the chunin that escorted her from the Hyuga estate to the academy. Her father wanted to make sure that she was safe. The byakugan was too valuable to risk. Minato may have increased the village safety but Hiashi thought better safe than sorry. So he hired Kurenai to be Hinatas escort.

"Well girls, welcome to our first class just for future kunoichis" she said. "My name is Kurenai Yuuhi and you will call me Kurenai sensei. I'm a chunin for three years now and this is the first time I have the possibility to teach. It's a great honor for me to be allowed to help you on your way to become strong kunoichis. First things first. What do you think a good kunoichi is like?" she asked.

Sakura raised her hand.

"Yes, Sakura it was right?"

"Yes Kurenai sensei. I think a good kunoichi is very beautiful so that she can charm every man."

Another girl added. "Yes like Sasuke-kun. He is so handsome and so strong."

A lot of girls got dreamy looks in their eyes.

Mai just snorted. Girls like that gave kunoichis a bad name.

"You are idiots. Why would I want to impress men with my looks? I want to be their equal. A good kunoichi knows how to use her abilities to trick her opponents. As girls we have the disadvantage of range against a male opponent so we have to find other ways to reach our goals. My role model is Kushina Uzumaki. She was one of the most powerful kunoichis of all times. My dad was her teammate and told me stories about her. She was so powerful that she got the nickname the red waterdevil. She was an ANBU captain and famous for her powerful waterjutsus. In her chunin exams she was the only one who gave Minato Namikaze our current Hokage a run for his money. He won in the end but he was very impressed by her skills."

"But how would such a kunoichi gather information?" Ino asked. "Most kunoichis are spies and by being completely unsuspicious they can hear things others don't hear. A good kunoichi is not recognized as one before it is too late for her opponent. A good kunoichi strikes from the shadows. That makes up for the disadvantage of range. That's what my dad told me."

"Ino and Mai have very good points there. It is true that a lot of kunoichis do this kind of missions and sometimes it is required to seduce their opponents to get valuable information. But none of these kunoichis would be overpowered by any male because a kunoichi that is worth her name is intelligent. She uses what she can to reach her goals. We don't need to fear for our looks. If it is needed we can change our looks with a simple henge no jutsu. Only if we infiltrate other ninja communities this is impossible as they could detect our chakra. But there are ways to improve looks.

Some good placed make up and a nice hairstyle can hide some things. But if you are not able to defend yourselves you will have great problems. Enemies are merciless. Bandits are greedy. If they catch a woman most of the time they will rape her. It is the worst thing a woman can experience. This class will prepare you if you ever get into such a terrible situation. Mai is right if she says that you have to be in physical top form. Normal bandits, no matter how strong they are, are no match for a good trained kunoichi. An enemy ninja even if he is extremely strong can fall if he underestimates his opponent and shinobis tend to underestimate kunoichis.

Mai mentioned Kushina Uzumaki. She was a prime example what a good kunoichi was like. One of my best friends Anko Mitarashi also admired her. She was a great fighter but also a beautiful woman. When she came to Konoha she was a ninja of whirlpool country, a small country that now is under protection of fire country. They have their own royal court but are a part of fire country. From what my parents told me she looked more like a boy when she took her first chunin exams here in Konoha. She first concentrated to become a good fighter. Her beauty just developed when she got older."

Many of the girls were stunned. They had been told about the princess of whirlpool. It was for the reason that Naruto was her son and that the fire daimyo made very clear that he would not hesitate to do everything to appease the king and queen of whirlpool if Naruto was mistreated again. But that this princess had been good enough to fight toe-to-toe with the Yondaime Hokage in the chunin exams was impressive.

Kurenai hoped that some of the girls would invest more time in their training then in their looks after she told them that beauty developed with age. It was useless to try and impress a boy if they were children. Boys normally were not interested in girls until they reached puberty. And it would be years until then.

"But there is also the matter how to work on yourselves that you can make up for natural disadvantages. Until you hit puberty there won't be big differences between you and your male classmates in terms of physical abilities. When you grow up they will develop more muscles then you. It's only natural. But you can learn how to fight using your advantages in areas like flexibility, speed and reaction times. The female members of ANBU are good examples how a kunoichi can make her way to the top."

"Kurenai sensei, why are there less kunoichi than shinobi in the ranks?" Reina Nara asked.

"Well, a main reason is that less girls than boys choose this career. Though the numbers have increased since Tsunade sama started her medical program. Girls tend to have better chakra control than boys so they are better suited to become medics. Some of them because they have lower reserves than the boys but most of them because it is somewhat a talent of females. My specialty is genjutsu. To become a master at genjutsu you have to have very good control of your chakra. Another option is to have a bloodline that enables you to do it. Yakumo here is from a very prominent clan of Konoha that specializes in genjutsu, the Kurama clan" she pointed out the girl.

Yakumo looked pleased that Kurenai praised her clan abilities.

"The only other clan in Konoha that is equal in terms of genjutsu abilities is the Uchiha clan. But their abilities are connected to the sharingan. If they don't develop them, as only a part of the clan has the kekkei genkai, they just have to train like any other shinobi. Some girls talked silently. They knew that a big part of the Uchiha clan had tried to take over Konoha and were seen as traitors. Sasuke was a special case as he had only been three and not been involved in the conspiracy and his older brother who looked after him since their parents had died, had proven time and time again that he was loyal to Konoha. But others were still under supervision of the ANBU.

"For today we will work on your flexibility, endurance and balance. In the background of the academy is a special training course that will train your abilities in those areas. You will start with fifteen seconds space to each other and do the course as fast as possible. And one thing I want to make clear. You will concentrate on this exercise. You have two years to prove that you really want to become kunoichis. Those who just want to be near their love interest will be dropped out of the program if they don't show results. Did I make myself clear?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes Kurenai sensei" the girls answered.

* * *

Kurenai led them outside and showed them the training course.

"This is training course number six. First you have to climb this post using the poles that are put around it. The meaning is to climb around the post as fast as possible. When you reach the top, that would be two meters high, you will cross the net to reach the pipes. You have to climb through the pipes. They will change directions while you are in there so don't get irritated. At the end there are ropes. You have to use the five ropes that are put behind each other to cross the mud field below. If you fall, well first you get dirty and second you have to come back to the start and try again.

After the ropes you can see posts. You have to jump from top to top. This will train your balance. The next part is the plank. You have to cross it while you will be attacked with soft balls. When you get better the balls will get harder. At the end of your sixth year you will be attacked with blunted kunai and shuriken. So try not to get hit. First you can fall and will have to begin again, second, it hurts.

Last part is the evasion maze. The path is narrow and you will have to twist your bodies and change directions often. For now just try to be as fast as possible and get a feeling for this. Later you will be chased. So be sure to be able to do this exercise before this will start. You have three months until the difficulty will be upped. You are allowed to train in your free time at the training grounds of the academy. Just tell one of the teachers if you want to use it. For now we will get started. Line up and begin."

The girls lined up. Hinata was the fourth after Mai, Reina and Ino.

"This will be interesting, don't you think Hinata?" Ino asked.

"I think so. I hope I can do this."

"Just believe in yourself" she tried to motivate Hinata.

"She is right. That is our chance to show that we will be great kunoichis. Ha, this will be my new playground. I will prove that male ninjas are not better than females" Mai proclaimed.

"Mai, start" Kurenai said.

Mai took of and climbed the post with the poles. She was very talented. She reached the top after fifteen seconds and Reina started. She wasn't at the top of the post when Ino was sent on the course. Hinata was nervous but she would give her best. That she had promised Naruto. When Kurenai said start she took of. It was easier than she thought to climb the post. With her training in her clan she had a good physical condition and was able to reach the post just a second after Sakura was given her signal to begin.

The net was kind of tricky. You had to find a rhythm to hit the ropes so you could cross it easily. Reina had had problems. Ino had nearly closed the gap. Hinata thought of something and used the outer ropes to balance upon. So she didn't have to get over the wobbly net but could use the stiff sides. She reached the pipes just after Ino and Reina. It was dark but with her byakugan she could see her way and passed the other two girls. She reached the end first.

The ropes were more of a problem. You had to time exactly when you reached for the next rope if you didn't want to fall in the mud. And you only had a big knot at the bottom of the rope where you could place your feet. Hinata tried to get a hold on the rope and then swing to the next but she couldn't get the next rope while holding onto the first rope. Realizing this she risked to swing to get a momentum she could use to reach the next rope. When she let go of her first rope she dearly hoped that she could grab the next one. To her great relief she managed it barely. For the next rope she would swing more before she let go. It got better with each rope.

She thought Mai would be a good way in front but it was better to get this exercise done without falling than to just go for a good time. And she saw that Reina had fallen from the second rope when she tried to get the third one. Sakura had fallen from the first rope, Ino was between the second and third one. Hinata left the fifth rope and jumped on the first post. This was an easy part for her. She often played with Naruto at his backyard and his father had similar posts there to train himself. They had played there and tried to jump from post to post.

She reached the plank and balanced on it. It was difficult to dodge the softballs so for the beginning she tried to block them. Hinata nearly fell but could get back her balance the last moment. She silently swore to train here herself with Mai to get proficient with this. Then she sped up and ran to the maze. The turns came fast and as Kurenai said she had to change her direction quite often and jump left and right to evade posts or duck under nets. Roll under bushes and jump over low walls.

She could see why they should be fast to get through this. When somebody wanted to target them there it would be very easy from the outside walls. Then she saw the exit. She used her muscles in the legs to make a little sprint and exited. "Very good Hinata, you are the first one to complete this" Kurenai said and wrote down her time. Hinata was stunned. She was the first one? But what had happened to Mai?

After two hours every girl had finished with the course. There were only three girls that had completed it in their first try. Hinata, Yakumo and Chinami Funaka. Hinata was surprised to see that her time was the best of all of them. Even Mai with her second successful try had been slower than her. Hinata had found out that she fell from the fourth rope in her first try. But she said that wasn't a problem. She just learned how to do it for her second round and then was able to do it.

But Mai congratulated Hinata for her success. The girls who did worst on this exercise were Sakura Haruno, Ami Magashi and Taina Nanokama. They needed four tries to reach the goal. "Well for today we are finished but I recommend to train yourselves. We will repeat this exercise in three days and I expect you to do better than now. For Yakumo, Hinata and Chinami, you have done very well. I'm proud of you. But don't stop improving. Train hard to get even better. Class dismissed." Kurenai disappeared in a cloud of smoke and leafs.

* * *

The boys didn't believe their eyes when they saw the girls pass them. Except for three girls they all were covered in mud. Kiba thought it was very funny and laughed at them. That got him a beating from Sakura and Ami who were pissed that the others had done so much better than them. Sakura especially looked sour at Hinata. She stood next to Naruto and told him about their training. She could see how he congratulated her. How could someone like Hinata spend time with this monster that was responsible for the imprisonment of her mother? Why did nobody see that Naruto was a danger to Konoha? But as the Hokage's son he got special treatment.

He should be at the feet of the real elite like Sasuke. The Uchiha had always been the strongest in Konoha. And just because some people didn't want to see this all those problems started. Yes they started with the Namikaze clan. When Narutos father returned everything went wrong. Nearly all of the members of the civilian council had been imprisoned. They couldn't all be traitors and her mother would never do something like that.

She just had tried to protect Konoha from a monster like Naruto. She was right. With a demon inside of him Naruto was a monster. Sakura was just glad that this demon was in another class. So she was at least safe for now. When the time came for them to show what they were able to do Sasuke would shine beyond everybody else, that she was sure of.

Sasuke himself couldn't care less about the girly dreams of fangirls like Sakura. He wanted to prove his strength. And the best way was to fight against strong opponents. He didn't get to fight Naruto but he could see that the Namikaze was a worthy opponent. He was sure when they would be sorted after two years he would end in a class with Naruto. He was worthy to be his rival.

Itachi had supported him to try his best to reach the top. Itachis goal was to prove that the name Uchiha meant something other than traitor and thief. Many people saw the sharingan as a method to steal other person's hard work. Itachi never did this, he only copied jutsus of enemies. If he wanted to learn a jutsu that a fellow Konoha ninja used he asked for permission to learn it and then trained his hardest to master it. He never stole any jutsus of his comrades.

That and his unwavering loyalty to Konoha were highly respected and his name was spoken with respect. Sasuke wanted the same for himself. He didn't really remember his father but he knew that he had followed the wrong path. Itachi had taught him that respect was earned not given. Sasuke took these words to his heart. He made a decision. He walked over to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto" he called the blond.

"Yes? What do you want Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"I would like to spar with you some time. During the sparing today I could see that you are very strong. I would like to see where I stand to improve and the best way would be to fight against a strong opponent."

"Why not? But not today, daddy promised me to help me train when I come back. We could spar the day after tomorrow after school if you want Sasuke."

"Okay. I look forward to it Naruto. Bye."

"Bye Sasuke" Naruto replied. Sasuke turned around and left.

"Do you really want to train with this descendent of a traitorous clan Naruto sama?" some girls asked.

"Stop at once" Naruto said angry. The girl were stunned. Naruto never spoke this harshly. He was always polite.

"Sasuke is not a traitor. His father was a traitor and was punished for his crimes. But Sasuke was three when it happened. He had no control over the things that happened. And he never did anything wrong. His older brother is a very respected member of the ANBU and absolutely loyal to Konoha."

"Why do you defend him?" a boy that was around asked.

"Let me ask you something. How would you feel if a family member of you did something bad that you couldn't control? What if everybody started to blame you for this? I know better than anybody else how it feels to be accused of a crime another committed. I am the jinchuriki of Kyubi no Kitsune who killed lots of citizens of Konoha.

The people treated me like the bastard fox. They wanted to kill me the day I was born just because my father had to use me to protect Konoha. I know exactly how Sasuke feels. He wants to prove that he isn't a traitor as I want to prove that I have nothing in common with Kyubi. I will judge him for his own behavior and his abilities not for prejudices others made." Naruto turned and left the ones that spoke ill about Sasuke. Hinata followed him.


	14. Chapter 14

**A family tradition**

Naruto hurried to get home. Today he would train with his father and he was very excited. It was something special when his father took his time to teach him. Due to his duties as the Hokage he was usually busy even though he used shadow clones to manage the paperwork. Well he normally was at home when Naruto returned after school at a quarter past five. Then they would just sit in the living room and Minato listened to Narutos experiences at the academy. Two days a week Naruto would return one hour earlier to do clan training.

Today Minato had planned something special Naruto had begged to teach him for some time now. He would start his training in fuinjutsu. As the Namikazes had always been experts with seals it was tradition that the parents taught their children this art when they were old enough to use a brush and ink to write carefully. Fuinjutsu was a very precise art and it took a lot of time to learn. But if it was mastered there were nearly no limits for the use of seals.

Naruto arrived at his home and met his father in the hall. "Welcome home Naruto" Minato greeted his son. "We will go to my study to train today. You will start your training in fuinjutsu."

"Really? Thank you daddy thank you. I really want to learn this." Naruto jumped up and down excitedly.

"It's okay Naruto calm down" Minato said smiling.

He led his son to his study and closed the door behind them.

"Sit down Naruto. We will start with some basic seals today. Please tell me which ones you have already heard of."

"Well first there are the ones you mentioned when I was three and you explained seals to me. The exploding tags, the flash tags, storage seals and of course the Kyubis seal on my stomach. Then there are the security seals on the walls of the village. Some of them can detect chakra of invaders others can trap them."

"Very good Naruto. You remembered a lot."

Naruto smiled at the praise of his father.

"A seal is build by different parts. First there is the goal you want to accomplish with a seal. Take an exploding tag for example. Your goal is the explosion. So you need a source of power for the explosion. Then you need a limiter because you don't want to blow up everything just a defined area. You need a timer so you don't lose fingers when you activate the tag. Then you need to define the direction the seals will explode to. You can let it explode in all directions or just one or two. It all depends on the way you create your seal."

Naruto was fascinated. He never knew that fuinjutsu was so complex.

"If you have mastered the basics of an exploding tag, you can vary the seal. One of my favorites is to seal senbons with a paralytic toxin in an exploding tag. You set them as a trap, lead your opponent to the trap area, trigger the seals and when he gets hit he will be paralyzed and you can take him to the interrogation unit. For this you just have to add a storage part into the normal exploding tag."

"Wow that is fantastic daddy, will you teach me that today?" Naruto asked excited.

"No, not today. We will start with a basic storage seal. It is one of the very useful seals as you can transport your equipment with it way easier than with a backpack. And if something goes wrong at the beginning it isn't dangerous. You will need a lot of practice before you are only somewhat proficient with seals. A lot depends on the correct drawing of the seal patterns. But don't worry. You won't go on missions until you are twelve and have graduated from the academy. And if you have inherited my talent with this art, you will be great one day."

Naruto smiled. Minato took a brush and a flask of ink. "This is a special ink that allows to store chakra. I will use it to demonstrate you the correct design of the storage seal and its result. Until you get all the signs for the seals drawn correctly, you will work with normal ink. When you have it down correctly I will give you the special ink and you can try to make your first real seal."

Naruto nodded and looked concentrated at his father and the piece of paper in front of him. Minato began to draw the seal. He moved the brush fluently and it was like the brush danced over the paper. Naruto was fascinated by his abilities. He wanted to be able to do this himself.

"That's it. This is what a basic storage seal looks like. But you will never see it in this form because I have to do one last step" Minato explained.

"What is missing daddy?" Naruto asked.

"If a seal was this easy to read anybody could reproduce or counter it with enough experience in this kind of jutsu. For a storage scroll this is not a problem, but think of exploding tags. If somebody found a trap you set up and made your seals useless."

"That would be bad" Naruto recognized.

"Yes and therefore I added these additional signs at the outlines" Minato said and showed Naruto the mentioned signs. "They have no other meaning than to cloud the nature of the seal. When I add chakra to complete the seal it will change its appearance."

Minato molded his chakra and added it to the seal. It changed its appearance and looked totally different. "That's it. Now it's your turn Naruto. Take the brush and the ink and try to repeat what I showed you."

Naruto nodded and took the brush. When he started he had a strange feeling. It was as if he had done this before and it came naturally. His brush danced over the paper, a lot slower than Minatos had been before but his strokes were sure and soon he had finished his seal. When he looked up he saw his father's stunned face. Minato looked over the seal Naruto had drawn.

"That's impossible" he said.

"Daddy? Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked insure.

Minato looked at Naruto. His look hurt him. He smiled kindly.

"No Naruto you did nothing wrong, just the opposite. I have never before seen such a talent at fuinjutsu like you. That seal is perfect. I had expected that you would have much more difficulties to learn this. I expected ink drops or malformed patterns but you surprised me totally. I'm very proud of you my son. If you continue like this you will surpass me one day in this art."

"Really daddy?" Naruto said happy.

"Yes. I'm sure of it. Let's try for you to use the special ink. Then you can try to seal something in it."

Naruto nodded and started again. His brush danced over the paper and he drew a perfect storage seal again. When he was finished he added his chakra like his father had shown him and the seal changed. Minato took a kunai from his pouch and gave it to Naruto.

"You have to put the kunai over the seal and add you chakra, then the kunai will be stored into the seal" he explained.

Naruto nodded again and did what he was told. The kunai vanished in the paper and a kanji that said 'kunai' appeared. Naruto smiled brightly at his success. Minato just shook his head disbelievingly. His son apparently was a genius with seals.

"Naruto how did you know exactly how you had to move the brush?" he asked. "Well I observed you how you did it. And then it came just naturally. It felt like I had done it before. But daddy, could it be that there is something wrong with the seal? It didn't feel like it was complete" Naruto said.

Minato was surprised again. No beginner should have such a feeling for the seals.

"You are right Naruto. This seal is just a basic one that allows you to store things up until a set volume. There are more complex seals that cope with this. But I wouldn't have thought that you could recognize this in your first lesson."

"Well this wasn't the first time that I saw something like this. I remember one time, when I was at the orphanage I found a book that was totally dusty in the cellar. There were some of the signs that you used for this seal in. It was very interesting and it helped me to pass the time so I read it."

"Did you understand it?" asked Minato curious.

"I don't know. Some things didn't add up but there were some pages missing."

"How old were you?"

"Three. It was not that much before you came back daddy."

"How could you read?"

"The nice man that talked with me sometimes taught me."

'Danzos ROOT member' Minato realized. That explained some things. When he began to teach Naruto to read he had been surprised how easy Naruto had mastered it.

"Could you show me some of the signs that were in the book?"

"Yes daddy"

Naruto took his brush and the normal ink and began to draw. Minato was astounded. His six year old son drew perfect seal kanjis just from his memory from three years ago.

'He must have a photographic memory' Minato thought.

When he was finished Minato saw a chakra storage seal, a chakra conversion seal to converse normal chakra to elemental chakra, a very high level storage seal and a basic barrier.

'That is not beginner level, that's advanced learners level. What the hell did the orphanage store in the cellar? I have to investigate this.' "Naruto, when you found the book, where there more books?"

"Yes, but I didn't get the opportunity to read them" Naruto answered.

Minato thought. "Did the caretakers know of the books?" he asked.

"No I never told anybody, I was afraid they would take them away from me. I was afraid that if I was sent to the cellar again and they took the books it would be scary again."

Naruto shivered and Minato pulled him into a gentle hug.

"That's over Naruto. You will never again have to experience something like this. But I really want to see the book you learned from. What you drew there" he pointed to the seals Naruto drew "are some very advanced seals. If this book was found by the wrong people it would be bad."

"Okay daddy" Naruto said and leaned more into the hug.

He enjoyed physical contact. He never got any kind of hugs or just a gentle pat on the back when he was at the orphanage. Everybody had avoided him like the plague. He was a little afraid when they would return to the place he never wanted to see again. He only had bad memories of the place. But if his dad accompanied him it perhaps wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

Minato locked the mansion and he and Naruto went to the orphanage. He had made sure that the caretakers had changed. He just hoped it wouldn't bring up too many bad memories for his son. He observed Naruto and he stiffened slightly the nearer they got to the orphanage. When they reached the gates, he put his hand on Narutos back to ensure him.

"Don't worry, nobody will hurt you. I'm with you Naruto."

Naruto nodded and relaxed a bit. Minato knocked at the door and they waited for someone to open the door. One minute later a man opened the door.

"Hokage sama? What brings you here?" he asked surprised.

"Well, I wanted to look for something Naruto found in the cellar when he lived here. Could you please lead us there?" he asked politely.

"Of course that's not a problem, but we didn't clean the cellar for years. We don't use it as it is not suitable to store supplies."

"That doesn't matter. I just have to find something out" Minato explained.

The man nodded and led them to the entrance of the cellar. When Naruto saw the door, he trembled. Minato took his hand. Naruto looked in his father's eyes. They looked so strong and he thought that his father feared nothing. He really wanted to be this strong. Minato opened the door and turned the lights on. They found a lot of dust and cobwebs.

"I see what you meant when you said you didn't clean the cellar" Minato told the man and scratched the back of his head.

He didn't want Naruto to go into the cellar when it was this dirty. Probably the cobwebs were one reason why he found it scary when he was locked in there. He crossed his fingers.

"Kagebunshin no jutsu" he said and five shadow clones appeared. "Get some cleaning tools and make us a path down the stairs" he told his clones.

They nodded and took of for tools.

"Can I also help daddy?" Naruto asked.

"That's nice of you Naruto but you can't do this jutsu yet. It's a bit too advanced for you to learn. I will teach it to you when you are older. You just started at the academy."

Naruto pouted. Then he got a sly grin on his face. He would prove his father what he was able to do. He made the handsign his father used and concentrated his chakra like he did for the seals. He concentrated as much as he could.

"Kagebunshin no jutsu" he shouted and a large cloud appeared.

"No Naruto" Minato shouted worried.

This jutsu was dangerous if it was used without control. When the smoke disappeared there were nearly fifty clones of Naruto. All grinning brightly at him. One threw his fist into the air.

"I did it daddy, did you see?" he was very proud of himself.

Minato gaped at the shadow clones. This child was a miracle. That was a jonin technique and his little son was able to perform it.

"How did you do this?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I just copied your moves. And I used as much chakra as I could." He grinned at his father.

"Naruto, don't use this jutsu to produce more than twenty clones at once" Minato told him sternly. "I can't believe you were able to perform it and I am glad that you didn't hurt yourself. This jutsu is a jonin level technique Naruto. You need very much chakra for this. The only reason why you don't have any problems right now is that you are a jinchuriki and a part of Kyubis chakra has already been transformed into yours and has been added to your reserves. No other child would survive to use this move. You must promise me that you won't use this jutsu carelessly."

Naruto had never seen his father this seriously. It had to be important. "Okay daddy I promise. But I was great, wasn't I?"

"Yes you were. I have to tell you some things about this jutsu. Kagebunshin no jutsu is a jutsu that was developed to gather information in enemy territory. You can send a clone, probably transformed with a henge no jutsu, to spy and gather information. Then you dismiss your clone and learn everything he learned. The clones' memories are transferred back to you when it dispels. Next thing is. Kagebunshin are solid clones but are destroyed by one good hit."

Minato demonstrated as he hit one of Narutos clones and it poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

"Ouch" Naruto said as he remembered the hit.

"When you create shadow clones your chakra will be split evenly between you and your clones. That is the reason you get their memories back. And there are severe risks. You get all the experiences of your clones. That means if your clone is exhausted, this will be transferred to you as well. Also never dispel too many clones at once or you will get a terrible headache. Believe me, I have experienced this. That is the reason I only use a small number to do my paperwork at the tower. If I used too many the advantages of the jutsu would be negated by the disadvantages."

Naruto nodded. He would be careful to use this jutsu. But he could see so many possibilities to use it. He would start the next day. He was only forbidden to use too many clones, but if he left two or three at home to study when he was at the academy, he could learn so much faster.

"One thing shadow clones can't transfer to you is physical training if you think of that" Minato interrupted his thoughts. "You will have to build up your strength, flexibility and speed all by yourself."

"Well, it would be kind of boring if it was too easy. And I would get the feeling of cheating. I want to get my abilities by myself. I will just use kagebunshin to learn theory and if I need to get something down very fast. I don't know if there will be such a situation but you don't know what will happen."

"That's a wise decision Naruto. But if you want to learn something of our library at home ask me before you start. You can read nearly everything we have there but some things are just too dangerous just now. You need to start with the basics and when you have them down you can begin to learn the more advanced things."

"Okay daddy" Naruto answered happily. He would study and train very hard. He wanted to become the best he could be.

Minatos shadow clones came back with some brooms and bins and started to take away the cobwebs. Narutos clones carried away the bins with the dust and cobwebs. Soon they were able to descend into the cellar.

"Which way Naruto?" Minato asked.

"I think it was this way daddy" Naruto said, holding one of his father's hands and pointing with the other.

They walked a while when the ceiling got lower. Minato had to duck. No wonder nobody found the books. Only a child like Naruto would look here. He saw something small run across his feet. A rat. He shook his head. The orphanage really had to clean up here even if there weren't suitable rooms to store supplies. It wasn't right that rats lived in the cellar of a building where children grew up. He had thought that this problem had already been taken care of. Well he would send an exterminator. But he better didn't tell this Naruto. The boy was very distracted when he saw someone who treated animals bad, probably because he understood them.

"It's over there daddy, behind this hole in the wall" Naruto pointed at the hole.

It was just big enough that a child could get through.

"Well, I'm too big to get through the hole. We have to widen the hole or you climb through it and get the books you told me about" he told Naruto.

"But that are so many. I can't carry them all" Naruto wailed.

"About how many books do we speak Naruto?" Minato asked.

"I don't know exactly, but I think it could be a hundred."

Minato gasped. Who would store a hundred of books here? He took out a flashlight and turned it on. He looked through the hole and lightened in every corner he could see.

"Seems to be an old storage room. But for what? This building hadn't been used for years before Konoha bought it to use it as an orphanage. Well I think I have no choice. Naruto step a bit back, I have to use a strong jutsu to destroy the wall and I don't want you to be accidentally hit by debris." Naruto nodded and stepped back a few meters. He was curious which jutsu his father would use.

Minato concentrated his chakra in his right palm and let it spin rapidly. When a perfect shaped ball was ready he trusted his hand through the wall.

"Rasengan" he said.

The ball of pure chakra hit dead on and the wall began to crumble down. Naruto was awestruck. That was an amazing jutsu and his father didn't even have to use handsigns. When the rumbling stopped there was a lot of dust in the air and Naruto coughed. It was difficult to breathe for him with all the dust. It also hurt in his eyes. He stepped further back. Then he felt a bigger person put something around him and then he felt wind on his face. When he looked up he saw his father using his cape to keep the dust away und his chakra spiraled in his palm and produced the wind so he could breathe easier.

"Better Naruto?" Minato asked concerned.

Naruto just nodded. He was still coughing.

"We will wait some time until the dust has lessened. Then we will explore the room with the books."

Minato took Naruto and carried him away from the dust cloud. They sat down on the top stairs and Minato sent one of his shadow clones to get them something to drink. They waited for fifteen minutes and during this time Naruto asked many questions about Minatos jutsu.

"It's called Rasengan. It took me three years to develop it. When you have mastered the basic chakra control exercises like tree climbing and water walking we can start your training with it. I think by the time you graduate you will have mastered it completely. Don't hurry through the things. We have six years until you graduate. You can take your time to learn. Also I want you to play with your friends. The serious part of your life will start soon enough. I want you to enjoy your childhood as much as you can."

Naruto smiled. It was great to have such a nice father.

When they walked down again, Minato carried Naruto as he thought that the dust would be lesser higher up in the air. They climbed through the now bigger hole in the wall and were greeted with lots of books on five shelves.

"That's much more than I thought it would be" Minato said.

"What do we do now daddy?" asked Naruto.

"Well, I will seal the books into scroll so I can examine them at home. Do you want to help?"

"Yes, which storage seal do we use?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"The basic one. We will draw a seal for each book. It will take some time. Here take this scroll and this brush and ink pot. Then you can start with the shelf at the bottom, I will start with the top shelf."

Naruto nodded and started drawing seals. When he finished one, he would seal a book and then draw the next seal. They worked for two hours until they were finally finished. Naruto was breathing hard. That was the longest period he had to concentrate and mold chakra ever. And he wasn't used to use chakra for long periods of time. They had filled five scrolls with the books. Each scroll contained thirty books. It had been more books than Naruto had guessed. And Minato had overlooked the backs of the books and seen that there were some very valuable books with rare knowledge. Whoever had built up this storage room had a wide variety of knowledge. At the end, when he let his flashlight pass over the walls he recognized a door behind the shelves that had been hidden by the books.

'What could be behind this door?' he thought. He moved the shelves aside and tried to push the door open.

To his surprise it was easier than he thought. But when he looked inside the new room he slammed the door shut. It was a horrible sight. He had to get Naruto outside at once. And all the children had to be moved. He was thankful Naruto hadn't seen anything. This was something his little son mustn't ever know.

"What's the matter daddy? Why did you slam the door shut?" he asked.

"There is something on the other side our specialists in the ANBU will have to investigate. You have to go to bed, it's getting late and you don't want to be sleepy at the academy tomorrow, won't you?"

"Of course not daddy" Naruto answered.

He let Minato carry him out of the cellar. Minato called the man they met before.

"Nobody is allowed to enter the cellar. An ANBU unit will come over in a few minutes. Tomorrow I will send you some ninjas to help to move the children temporarily. I don't know how long it will take to find everything that is hidden under this building but it will probably take two to three weeks."

Naruto realized his dad was worried. He knew he wanted to make sure he was safe, so he was a really good boy and bathed and went to bed without complaints. Minato was grateful his son was this easy to handle tonight. It would be a long night for him. That much was for sure.


	15. Chapter 15

**Discovery**

When the Hokage had called them, they had been there five minutes later. Two teams of ANBU and Tsunade stood in Minatos office. Minato collected himself and began to talk.

"Today I found a hidden storage room under the public orphanage. I went there with my son Naruto because he told me that he found a book on seals there, when he was locked up there. You all know about what time I speak. I found this out because today I started Narutos training in fuinjutsu. He showed me some advanced seals he once saw in a dusty book he found in this cellar.

When I asked him if there were more books he said yes and guessed it would be a hundred of books in the room he found. We went there and after destroying the wall which separated the cellar from the room, Naruto managed to crawl through a hole when he found the book on seals, I found some sort of library. As there were this many books Naruto and me started drawing storage seals."

"But Minato isn't Naruto too young to be able to draw proper seals?" Tsunade asked doubting.

"Mom, Naruto is a genius with seals. It was his first lesson today and the basic storage seal was the first thing I showed him. He was able to draw it perfectly. He can use the brush like a proficient sealmaster admittedly at a slow speed. I have never seen such a talent before. He is even better then I was at his age.

On top he seemingly has a photographic memory. When he drew the seals he saw in the book for me because I asked if he had seen seals before and he told me he had, I didn't want to believe my eyes. He produced a chakra converter seal to change normal chakra into an element you chose, an advanced storage seal, a chakra storage seal, one of the more difficult ones and a barrier seal."

The ANBUs looked disbelievingly. How could a six year old boy be able to do something like this? Even if he was the Hokages son, the most renowned expert on seals.

"Incredible" Tsunade said.

"Yes it is. By the way be careful what jutsus you use in his presence. He might surprise you and copy them" Minato warned her.

"What do you mean?" she asked. She couldn't believe Naruto would be able to do something like this.

"I mean that my little son saw me perform kagebunshin no jutsu to get some helping hands to clean the way into the cellar. He saw the handsign and just tried the jutsu. And he succeeded. He produced fifty clones in his first try. I told him about the dangers of the jutsu afterwards and warned him not to overdo it. But he is determined to become the best shinobi there is. He will just try to learn the jutsus he sees others perform. And he isn't old enough to understand all the dangers not only for him but also others. Imagine what he could do with a jutsu like Katon Gokakyo."

Tsunade understood. While not wanting to do damage he could hurt others if he wasn't careful.

"I understand. I will be careful and also tell Shizune."

"This will be best, I will inform Kakashi and Danzo. They have to know as well as they also train with him."

Everybody nodded. If Naruto would develop like this he would become a very powerful shinobi and with all of Kyubis chakra he would have power like nobody else at his hands.

"By the way. Nothing of my son's abilities will get out of this village. If any of the other nations get to know they will hunt him. Worst case Orochimaru finds out. This leads to the reason I called. When Naruto and I finished with the sealing of the books, I found a door behind the shelves. I moved them aside and looked behind the door. I saw a laboratory and I fear it is one of Orochimarus old hideouts. I saw tubes at the walls and glass containers with bodies inside.

I slammed the door shut as fast as I could and Naruto didn't see a thing, but we have to investigate this. Tenzo, please use your mokuton abilities to build a new orphanage at the empty ground near the forest. The orphans will move tomorrow, the caretakers will pack everything tonight with the help of some ninjas I will send there. Nobody is allowed to enter the cellar except for the ANBUs, you mom and some medics that have the highest clearance. I don't want anything of this getting out. This is a S class mission. Understood?"

"Yes Hokage sama" the ANBUs answered.

"Good dismissed" Minato said. The ANBUs vanished.

* * *

When Minato returned home the next morning he was exhausted. He had sorted through the sealed books and some were journals of certain events. It was worse than he had imagined. It was one of Orochimarus old hideouts. There were corpses of children, teenagers and adults in the glass containers. The morbid fascination of the snake with knowledge had been obvious. He had experimented on them.

The notes suggested that the people mostly had been conscious when he did the experiments to see the pain tolerance. Minato wanted to puke. Some of the dead children had been Narutos age. Orochimaru had to die as soon as possible. He couldn't be allowed to live any longer. As a father he didn't want to imagine what could happen to his own son if he ever met this devil. Minato was that deep in thoughts that he didn't sense Naruto coming into the kitchen.

"Daddy?" the child asked tentatively.

Minato turned his head and looked at his son. He was still in his pajamas and held his fox plushy Kitsu in his arms.

'I will protect him. He will grow up happily and become strong enough to conquer the dangers of the world.' Minato smiled weakly.

"Hey Naruto, good morning" he said.

"What's the matter daddy? Why are you so tired?" he asked.

"I didn't sleep tonight. I had too much work that had to be done."

"But you always tell me that sleeping at night is very important" Naruto said.

"Yes and that is right but sometimes work comes first. Don't worry too much Naruto. I am a ninja and I am trained to cope with a sleepless night. When I have time I will take a nap and after that it will be better."

Naruto wasn't completely sure if this was okay.

"Naruto, come here" Minato said and when Naruto stood before him, he sat him onto his lap.

"Sometimes the job of a Hokage is strenuous. I have to make sure that everybody in Konoha is safe. When it means that I have to make sacrifices myself then I will do it. And a sleepless night isn't too much for me. Some missions I had to fulfill were also at night. It's nothing new for me. When you get older you will also have missions at night. You will learn how to do it. For now I just need some strong coffee and a good breakfast, then I can go on. And you should take a shower. When you are finished I will have breakfast ready so you can eat and then go to the academy."

"Okay daddy. I just don't want you to be hurt."

Minato could see the concern in Narutos eyes. His son really had a good heart.

"Don't worry I will be fine." Naruto nodded and jumped to the ground. He then took of to the bathroom to take his shower.

Twenty minutes later Minato and Naruto sat at the kitchen table and ate.

"And what are your plans for today?" Minato asked.

"I want to play with Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji after school. But tomorrow I will have a sparring match with Sasuke. He asked me if we could have a training fight to see where he stood with his abilities. He said he saw how strong I was during our sparring sessions yesterday at school and to get better it would be best to fight against a strong opponent."

"Well that's a good idea but don't overdo it. No flashy jutsus, stay with taijutsu. That is the first thing you have to perfect to become a good ninja."

"I know daddy. But I really want to fight Sasuke. He is strong himself and it is fun to fight against a good opponent."

Minato just smiled. It seemed that Naruto developed a friendly rivalry with Sasuke. Well as long as they stopped before they hurt themselves too badly he wouldn't interfere.

* * *

Naruto reached the academy with ten minutes to spare. He looked forward to the lessons today. They would have a lot of practical lessons. First thing would be traps. He really wanted to learn this. A lot of traps worked with seals and as it seemed he had a natural talent for this. He also liked to trick his opponents. He had lots of fun when he had been bored at the Hokage tower and his father had been too busy to talk with him. He had played little pranks on the office ninjas.

It took them a lot of time to figure out that it had been him. He had gotten scolded by Shizune who had brought in some reports from the hospital but when she told his father he had been sure that his father tried hard to keep a serious face and not to burst out in laughter. Those office ninjas were so stiff. They had needed some action. He could have sworn he heard his father whisper "Just like Kushina and me" when Shizune led him out of his father's office.

And today he would learn more about traps. He chatted with Ino and Sai before they had to split up to go to their classes. Sai and Naruto reached their seats and sat down. Just a little bit later Hinata arrived together with Mai and took her seat.

"Good morning Hinata-chan" Naruto greeted. "Why were you this late today?" he asked.

"Good morning Naruto-kun, Sai-kun. I met Mai-chan at the gate and we talked a bit."

"I see."

This moment Renzo sensei arrived and everybody got quiet. They had soon learned that their sensei didn't take it well if they talked during the lessons.

"Good morning everybody. Today we have four different lessons. First traps, this a very important skill and I expect everybody to pay close attention. This will be a part of the graduation exams for sure and we also will do tests to see how far you have gotten with this ability. Second will be basic stealth training. Third basic taijutsu, fourth chakra theory. Let's get started. Traps can be everything and everywhere. Never let your guard down. You need constant vigilance. It's common to use the basic ninja tools like kunai, shuriken and wire to set up a trap. I will draw an example for you."

He drew a wooded area like it was usual around Konoha.

"You can use your environment to your advantage. The leafs can hide wire. You can construct simple traps like you set up some kunais that are fired in a certain direction when you cut the wire. Or you can connect your traps like one kunai will hit the wire for the next trap and so on."

Naruto wrote everything down. He soon spotted a problem.

"Renzo sensei, how can we set up connected traps if we have to take enemies into account? If they would intercept a kunai that was meant to trigger the next trap the chain would be stopped."

"A very good question Naruto. The answer is set your traps that your opponent doesn't have time to intercept your kunai that is meant to trigger the next trap. You will learn this during our lessons. Never allow yourself to be unaware. Don't be predictable. A ninja whose moves are predictable is as good as dead. He can be strong but if his opponent can read his moves before he uses them they would be useless or worse his opponent will turn them against him or use them to his own advantage."

The children looked at each other. There was obviously a lot a ninja had to take into account.

"Let me give you an example. Let's say you had to fight against a ninja from Kirigakure. Which kind of jutsu would you expect based on your studies from our last history lesson?" They thought some moments. Hinata raised her hand.

"Yes Hinata?"

"Well, Kirigakure is the hidden village in Mizu no kuni. So I would expect the ninja to be able to use some suiton jutsus."

"Right. A lot of ninjas from Kiri have very strong water jutsus. What would be the best defense?"

Choji raised his hand. Renzo sensei nodded to him.

"Well best would be an earth jutsu. Earth is stronger than water."

"Principally you are right Choji but what way could be even better to use the jutsu of the ninja against him?"

"Depends on the environment. If you could avoid to be hit yourself raiton could be a good choice or fuuton" Shikamaru said surprising everybody but their sensei.

The Naras were lazy as hell but very good strategists.

"You are right Shikamaru. Raiton would charge electricity through the water and hit the opponent if used intelligent. And fuuton can turn the direction of the suiton jutsu and turn it against its user. But everything depends on the level the opponents are at. If a suiton user is stronger than a doton user and the jutsu is at a higher level, the suiton could just overpower the doton even if the element normally is weaker. Therefore you have to always keep in your mind to involve the strength of your opponents in your strategy. A good strategist can be able to defeat a stronger opponent due to his wits."

He looked at Shikamaru who just said "Troublesome" and returned to put his head on his table.

"If we now take this into account for our lesson about traps you have to predict the way your traps would hit your opponent and develop counters to ensure your success. I have prepared a mock opponent description for you. You will divide in five groups. In your group you will have to work out a trap pattern that would be most promising to catch your opponent. The goal is to turn your opponent to the interrogation department because he could have valuable information the village needs.

You have half an hour to plan your trap, then we will go to the training grounds and you have another half an hour to set everything up. On your mission scenarios you also have the materials you will have available. The Groups will be in alphabetical order like last time. The first four build the first group, the second four the next and so on. Get started."

The students moved to meet their teammates. Soon Renzo sensei could see an intense discussion between Naruto and Shikamaru who were in one group. He asked himself if it would be overkill to put a genius in strategy and a natural prankster in one group.

* * *

When the time was up, everybody went outside and started to set up their traps. Renzo stayed away to give his students the advantage of surprise. He was really interested what kind of traps his young charges would come up with. Of course he was more than capable to avoid any serious injury, he was a ROOT veteran. He waited until the time frame was up and proceeded to the area where the first team had set up their traps.

"Okay team 1, tell your classmates, what was your mission objective?" Renzo began.

"Well Renzo sensei" Kiriko Akahara began "our mission was to build a trap in a wooded area to keep an intruder away from an item we had to protect. The item could not be moved because it was very valuable and heavy."

"Good, now I will try to get past your traps" Renzo said and entered their area.

He avoided the first trip wires easily but then he was confronted with a well hidden stone that had held the next trap and he was forced to dodge some kunais. It was no problem for him. He carefully avoided releasing another trap. Five minutes later and two more activated traps he had reached the item the group had tried to protect.

"That was not bad team one. You had some creative ideas to build your traps. Some advice. Try to make your traps multiple layered. Simple tripwires won't get you anywhere. If your enemy sees them, he will simply avoid them and your traps won't be triggered. Always use your environment to your advantage like using an area where a lot of leafs have fallen to the ground and hide your traps with them without rising suspicion."

The students nodded. Renzo then tested one team after another and gave suggestions how they could improve their traps to reach their mission goals. He purposefully waited to test team 3 with Naruto and Shikamaru. Their objective had been to capture him so he wanted to be this the last team to test.

"All right. Team 3 tell your mission parameters" he told them.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru commented and got hit over his head by Mai.

"Stop complaining lazy ass" she scolded him. "Our mission was to set up traps in a wooded area to capture a potential spy to get him to the interrogation unit."

Renzo nodded and entered their area. First he saw nothing which was slightly unusual. Normally fresh academy students began building their traps not far into the area they were working in. He was on high alert now. This would be interesting. He finally detected a well hidden trap. A thin wire was hidden under a layer of leafs. He didn't know what kind of trap this would trigger but he didn't intend to start it.

He evaded the trap and moved forward. If he had seen the grins on Shikamarus and Narutos faces he would probably been worried. The last moment he caught the trap on his evasion route from the first trap. If he had been too near to the tree he would have been caught. Shikamaru and Naruto still grinned. Their grins got even wider.

"I would never have thought that you would be able to predict senseis reactions so good Shikamaru" Mai said astounded.

"Well, I observed him in class and found some patterns I took into account when we worked the traps out. It would be too troublesome to build a trap and don't get our scenario solved. We only have one chance to get sensei in there and so our only choice was a triple trap. I'm curious how long it will take him to recognize it."

While evading the second trap Renzo activated the third trap that was exactly where he had to set his foot to prevent triggering the second trap. A small stone was moved and the wire that had been held by it flew away. Renzo was on high alert and got ready to deflect whatever they had used for this trap. He never imagined that Naruto got more than a few ideas how to prank people from his father and let it look skilled.

Wet paper was flying his way occasionally mixed with kunai and shuriken. Some of them had nearly invisible wires on them that Renzo managed to cut the last moment to avoid being tied to a tree. But by evading he triggered the trap he had evaded before and now he was bombarded with paintballs. He had to use all his skills to not be hit.

'Where the hell did they get the paint?' he asked himself. 'It wasn't at the list with the available tools and they were only allowed to use that and what they had with them. Does this mean one had the paint with them?'

"Renzo sensei is really good at dodging" Naruto stated impressed. "The only one who was able to last this long before and not be totally covered in paint was Kakashi-nii-san."

"But while dodging the paint he will overlook the real trap that will be triggered in ten seconds" Shikamaru added.

The other children looked in awe at the group. As Shikamaru said the next trap was triggered exactly ten seconds after. Lots of steel wire shot from four different directions and bound Renzo who was just in midair dodging kunai and paintballs, to the next tree. He was stunned. A group of six year olds had just accomplished to catch him in a trap. Unfortunately the last paintballs, all bright pink, hit him dead on as he couldn't evade anymore.

Naruto high fived with Shikamaru, Mai and Eki Murakawa. They were proud of their success.

The class was given a break and Renzo went back to the teacher's lounge to get a substitute for the next hour so he could clean himself up. He was glad that most of the teachers were former ROOT members so it wasn't as humiliating when he entered as it would normally have been. He swore himself to train harder to be able to dodge the next time he dared the son of the most feared prankster and the son of the greatest tactical genius of the village to build traps. Perhaps it would be good if the next time the groups would be mixed otherwise.


	16. Chapter 16

**The first important test**

"Sasuke, Sai we have to find a way to avoid these early morning rituals" Naruto said while running.

"No need to tell me" answered Sasuke. "Tell them." He pointed over his shoulder.

"Why am I part of this? I'm not part of an important clan or the son of a kage" Sai asked.

"Because they think you are cool and handsome" Naruto told him.

The three boys were running through the streets of Konoha at top speed to escape the bane of their eight year old lives. Fangirls. They had taken up the habit to stalk the three, pester them for dates or just annoy them while screaming silly nonsense.

"Well there is one positive thing. After today those fangirls who are unsuited to be Kunoichi will be dropped out of the program together with those who don't meet the standards of the academy" Sai said hopefully.

"Yes. I just hope this will eliminate the worst of them. I can't stand another of Sakuras rants about how we are destined to be together" Sasuke declared disgusted.

"Hm, she will probably stay. Unfortunately she has improved a lot since we started academy, as she didn't want to be outdone by Ino, Hinata and Mai. She is nothing special with her physical abilities but she will be able to meet the standards. But some of the others will be dropped" Naruto pondered.

Sasuke dropped his head. He so hoped to lose his most annoying fangirls. But it seemed it wasn't meant to be.

"Why can't more kunoichi be like Mai?" he asked.

"Because for some bizarre reason girls are illogical" Sai stated. "They want to be ninjas because they think there is a lot of prestige and they have the chance to meet their prince charming."

"Yes and it is complete nonsense. As if I would even think to be together with a girl who chases me through the village" Naruto added.

A loud squeal could be heard.

"Shit they are coming closer" Naruto shouted.

"We are nearly there" Sai said. "Only a few hundred yards. I can see the gates of the academy."

They sped up for one last time and finally reached the academy where the girls were forced to drop their silly behavior of they would be reprimanded by the teachers.

The three panted somehow but they quickly recovered. That was the only advantage of those escape runs from the fangirls. Their speed and endurance was steadily improving. When they looked up they saw their three female friends standing near the gate and trying hard not to laugh at their predicament.

"This is not funny" Naruto said pouting.

"Yes it is" responded Ino. "You should see your faces."

"If you find it so funny we invite you to use a transformation to look like one of us and experience a hunt for yourselves" Sasuke suggested sarcastically.

"No thank you" Mai said. "I'm not that crazy."

Hinata moved giggling to stand next to Naruto.

"You too Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Come on Naruto-kun. You would also laugh if something was funny."

In the last two years Hinatas confidence had improved greatly thanks to constant training with Mai and Ino. The girls had had a common goal. To be in the top class after the first two years. They wanted to be good kunoichi and met every Saturday morning to train on the academy training grounds. After the first practical lessons on the different training courses they planned to improve their abilities. Especially after Naruto and Sasuke had their first spar.

---------------------------------------Flashback----------------------------------------

Naruto and Sasuke stood on opposite sides of the training field. A lot of the other students had come to see the fight between the son of the Hokage and the little brother of the famous Itachi Uchiha.

"Okay Sasuke, only taijutsu for today" Naruto began to put the rules down.

"No problem. Time limit?" He asked.

"I think five minutes. If we go all out with our fight this will be a long enough time" Naruto said. "If one has the other disabled to continue he wins the fight."

"Good. Winner is who wins two out of three times with a break of five minutes between the fights" Sasuke suggested.

"Agreed Sasuke" Naruto said. "Are you ready?"

"As I can be."

The two boys looked at each other and took their stances. They were rough but for the other children there they were really good. But both boys had previous training and it showed. They waited for a few seconds and checked their opponent. Then Naruto began and ran towards Sasuke.

He tried to hit Sasuke with his fist but he was able to avoid the hit by shifting his body to the left. Sasukes kick to take Narutos legs from under him Naruto dodged by jumping over Sasukes leg. The two boys exchanged attack after attack and both managed to get some good hits through the defense of the other. They soon realized that they were nearly evenly matched. They grinned. This was fun.

The spectators were impressed. The two showed they were at the top of their respective classes for a good reason. And it were just two weeks into the academy. Some students realized that if they wanted to be able to follow and not be left in the dust of these two they would have to train hard.

After four minutes Naruto managed to grab Sasukes arm and with a swift motion he twisted the arm so that he had Sasuke in a firm hold from behind.

"If we would use kunai I would win this time Sasuke" Naruto stated with his second hand posing at Sasukes throat to show what he meant.

"All right you win this fight Naruto. But the next I will win" he said.

Naruto let go of Sasukes arm. Both boys were sweating. They took some water from bottles they had in their backpacks at the sides of the training ground.

The second fight Sasuke won. He tricked Naruto into an attack an then pinned him to the ground. Both enjoyed this immensely. The third and deciding fight was long and hard. Both were somewhat exhausted but Naruto had the greater stamina. In the end this was the deciding factor as he was slightly faster than Sasuke and got a kick to Sasukes stomach in and then, when Sasuke tried to get up he was behind him to take his victory like he did in the first fight. In a real fight there could be another trick by the opponent and both knew it but they had a taijutsu only fight.

On their way home they had stumbled over one of Gai Maitos challenges to Kakashi. He had suggested a speed contest with handseals for a certain jutsu. In the end Naruto and Sasuke agreed the man was somewhat insane and even if they had a rivalry none of the two would ever wear a green spandex suit. That was embarrassing.

---------------------------------- Flashback end ---------------------------------------------

After Hinata had teased Naruto a bit more he decided it was time for a counter.

"Hinata-chan is so mean" he began to complain. "Sai, she doesn't like me anymore." He shed some fake sobs on Sais shoulder.

Ino and Mai rolled their eyes. Naruto could be totally focused on a task but sometimes his childish side came out. They of course knew that all of this was acting. And Hinata also knew but it was difficult for her to stay cool because of her feelings for him. If any other boy tried something like this she would give a smart ass answer but with Naruto she wasn't able to do it. But for some reason Naruto was unable to deny Hinata any of her requests when she looked at him pleadingly. He dreaded the puppy-eyes no jutsu. And now Hinata used it to win their little teasing contest.

"Oh Naruto-kun, how can you say this? I thought our friendship was special. Stop talking like this. Please?"

Hinatas big lavender eyes looked into Narutos deep blue eyes. A mayor achievement for Ino and Mai as they had worked hard to get Hinata to be able to do this. Naruto began to sweat. Why were girls able to get boys with this technique every time?

"Face it Naruto, your girlfriend has you wrap around her pinky" Sasuke said smirking.

That got both of them stumbling.

"Sasuke we aren't a couple" Naruto hastily said. "We are just friends."

"And why are you so red if you two are just friends? And Hinata also?" Ino took over.

They all loved to tease Hinata and Naruto as all of them could see that both of them began to develop feelings for the other. And as Hinatas best friends Ino and Mai made sure to keep all potential rivals for Narutos affections at bay. Fangirls didn't count. He despised them.

The bell rescued Naruto and Hinata from more teasing. They split to go to their respective classes. The tests would start in a few minutes and everybody in their year wanted to pass the test with a good result. The exception was Shikamaru but he dreaded the wrath of his mother and so even he put some effort in his training. Even if it was just troublesome.

* * *

Renzo waited in front of their normal classroom for them. When everybody was there, he began to speak.

"Today you will take the first of your evaluation tests. From now on you will be tested every six months to measure your improvements. Concentrate and give your best then you will become worthy ninjas of Konoha. You all know that you have to get a certain amount of points to be able to remain at the academy so do your best. The results will be announced in one week, until then you have free time. Now to the test. It will be five parts. First a written part where you will be presented with a certain situation and have to find a solution to the mentioned problem.

Second will be an accuracy test for throwing weapons on stationary targets. Kunai and shuriken will be used. Third you have to present your ability to build traps with given tools. Fourth will be a taijutsu test against one of the teachers. Fifth is a chakra control test. You learned two basic techniques and have to present them to the proctors. Today every student in the third and fourth year of the academy has his or her evaluation test. The fifth and sixth year students will have their tests tomorrow. So we will use their classrooms to guarantee that nobody tries to cheat during the written test. So the first half of our class will stay here, the second is in the neighbor room. You know where to go."

The students nodded and went to the respective classrooms. Naruto was in the first half of the class, Shikamaru in the second. Every student took a seat with enough space to the next student. Nobody would be able to cheat. Renzo produced a shadow clone and sent it to the other room. Then he passed out the written tests with the blank side upside.

"For this test you have forty-five minutes to finish it. You will start in exactly five minutes. For this test there are the following rules. Cheating will lead to failure of the test. This is not an information gathering test but a test of your analytical abilities and the ability to solve problems. You have to get at least 60 % to pass this part. Your grades depend on the depth of your analysis and the found solutions. Right. Questions?"

No one had questions. Their previous tests had been similar. They knew the rules. Renzo looked at the clock at the wall to determine the beginning of the test.

"Start" he gave the command and the children turned the papers and began to read the instructions.

_You are on a mission to protect a civilian caravan. They transport luxury goods to sell them to wealthy clients. The rank of the mission is C, the merchants expect bandits to try and steal the goods from them. The Hokage has sent two teams of one jonin and three genin each to protect the caravan. One team is specialized in tracking, one is specialized in combat. _

_Which positioning of the teams would be the most beneficial for the success of the mission?_

_What schedule would be best for nightshifts?_

_List the typical abilities of both teams and involve them into your plan to protect the caravan best._

_Which strategy would most likely get best results in case of a bandit attack of thirty bandits?_

_List the most suitable persons of your class for the position of the six genin and give your reasons._

Everybody started to answer the questions for this scenario. It was not an easy task the children were confronted with but they had to learn how to plan and by imagining which of their classmates would be best suited for each position it would become easier as they knew each other's abilities by now. Most of them that was. A good shinobi was able to use deception and those trained by Danzo were masters of this art. So they didn't show all of their abilities.

After forty-five minutes everybody was told to stop writing and to hand in their papers. They were led outside where the others of their year would be.

* * *

Shimato the sensei of the former 2A was in charge of explaining the second part.

"Well, as you all were told this part consists of weapon accuracy. We have twenty targets over there in a distance of fifteen to twenty-five yards. Each target has five areas where you get points if you hit them. Two of the areas give two points for a hit as they represent vital areas on a person. The others give one point. Outside theses areas you won't get any points. You have ten kunai and ten shuriken. We will proceed in alphabetical order. First is Aburame Shino."

Shino stepped forward and took his weapons and went to the line from where he would try to hit his targets. The maximal amount of points was forty if one was able to hit every vital area. Shino began throwing his weapons. He managed to get six hits with kunais, one in a vital area, and seven with shuriken of them two in vital areas. Therefore he got sixteen points. Next was Choji, he got fourteen points with only one vital hit. His clan member Manami got fifteen points with seven hits of Kunai none in a vital area and five shuriken with three in vital areas.

Most of the vital hits anybody managed to score were on the nearer targets. Only Shino had so far been able to land a hit on one vital point on a farther away target. So it went on. The list reached Haruno Sakura and to the surprise of some she got twelve points on nearer targets with no vital hit.

"Next Hyuga Hinata" Shimato sensei announced.

Hinata took her weapons and got ready. She let her kunai fly and they hit most of her targets. Eight hits three on vital points. Next were the shuriken. Again she got eight hits with four vitals this time, two of them on farther targets. Twenty-three points for her. That was top score so far. When she went back Naruto smiled at her and mouthed 'Well done' to her. She was very happy with her results.

It went on and then it was Mai's turn. She got ready and threw her kunai. Nine hits, five in vital areas. Some students from the other classes were astounded. Shuriken were next and she got eight hits with three vital points. She got twenty-five points. Next was Naruto. He breathed in to relax and concentrate when he took his place at the line.

He began throwing and the kunai hit one target after another. Then the shuriken flew and the third years were stunned. Twenty hits with ten in vital areas. Thirty points for Naruto. He grinned proudly. It paid of that he had trained with Shizune so often for his accuracy. Medics knew exactly which points would lead to fatal wounds and Shizune specialized in throwing or launching senbons which were much more difficult to use than shuriken or kunai because you had to hit precisely to get the wanted results.

The test went on and most of the students got decent results. Then it was Sasukes turn. He would prove that he didn't stand behind Naruto. He had trained hard in this area and Itachi had shown him some tricks. His weapons flew in a blur. Like Naruto he got twenty hits but he had eleven vital hits. One point more than Naruto. Last was Ino. She got eighteen points. She hit six times each and had two vital hits with kunai and four with shuriken.

They went on to the test in traps. This was Narutos specialty. Everybody dreaded his traps by now. But he could only use the predetermined tools so it wouldn't be that bad for the proctors. At least they hoped so. Everybody got fifteen minutes to prepare and then the proctors tested the traps of each student. This part took two hours as there only were so many areas to build the traps. As expected Naruto aced this part but to everybody's surprise Shikamaru was really good in this part. Perhaps it was because you had to plan a lot of steps ahead, something he liked to do.

Taijutsu was next. Every student had to present the learned katas for one of the four styles that were taught at the academy. Tsunade had protested as she learned that the academy only taught one style. Children were build differently and so it would be better if there were more styles for them to chose to match their physical abilities. Minato had agreed with her reasoning even if it meant more work as they needed more teachers for the different styles. But it paid of.

Then they had a spar against the teachers. Hinata was best at this part followed by Sasuke and Choji. Naruto was good but Taijutsu wasn't his best ability.

Last part were the chakra control exercises. They had to show the leaf balancing and the water rippling exercises. Leaf balancing was graded how well the leaf hovered above their heads, if the distance changed during the time and if they ran out of chakra. It was possible to get extra points if somebody was able to balance more than one leaf. This test Yakumo aced followed by Sakura but Sakura had a hard time the longer the exam took. She just had very little chakra to control so the control was easier for her. Naruto had the most difficulties because of his large reserves. But he managed to do the exercise and even balanced three leafs. But he couldn't hold one distance.

Water rippling was an exercise that was preparation for the later taught water walking. Everybody got a basin with water and had to put their hand into the water. When the water had calmed down they had to pulse their chakra in regular intervals to create soft water circles. Too much chakra and the water would be splashed out of the basin, too little and the circles wouldn't form. Needless to say Naruto was kind of wet after this exercise. To set free little amounts of chakra was extremely difficult for him.

Hinata aced this part as her family taijutsu style the juken was based on constant release of chakra from the fingers and hands.

After everybody was done the teachers wished them a nice week.

* * *

At their way home Naruto suddenly was attacked with blunted kunai. He jumped out of the way and deflected the weapons with a kunai of his own. He immediately knew who was behind this attack and he turned in the direction came from. As he had feared Yugito Nii sat in a branch of a tree an laughed hard.

"I got you good midget" she proudly announced.

"That's not funny Yugito" Naruto protested.

"Yes it is. You should have seen your hilarious jump. You should train more midget or you never will be a great ninja."

Hinata was angry. Why had this girl to repeatedly attack Naruto? Couldn't she just leave him alone?

"Oh and look at who is accompanying the midget. The high and mighty Hyuga and Yamanaka princesses and the drawing dumbass. Where did you leave your other two cronies midget? The duckbutt hair and the tomboy?"

"Stop insulting my friends kitty" Naruto responded angrily.

"But it is fun. Why should I stop? You can't beat me. So what will you do? Run to daddy and tell him that the big bad kitty has been mean? Ooh I'm so scared." She laughed at him.

Naruto took something out of his weapon pouch and threw it at Yugito. She lazily dodged it without another look at it.

"Come on, your aim has seen better days midget. Or has the test been too strenuous for you?"

Naruto grinned. He formed a half handseal and concentrated his chakra. Next to Yugito a little explosion happened. After the smoke vanished the younger ones could see Yugito sneezing over and over.

"Damn midget what is this?"

"My newest seal. A pepper bomb. It works like a normal smoke tag but instead of the normal smoke pepper is released and makes you sneeze. This point is mine kitty chan, see you around."

With this Naruto and the others left the sneezing girl. A few moments later another person landed next to Yugito.

"What have I told you about your attacks on Naruto?" the newcomer scolded her.

"To plan them better Anko-nee-chan" Yugito answered.

"Right and to never underestimate him. He might be three years your junior but he is cunning and has a lot of tricks. So the next time you try to attack him make sure to remember this. And we have to work on your throwing speed. He is getting better at dodging."

"Yes nee-chan I will remember it."

Anko ruffled her hair which she tried to avoid.

"Good girl. Come on, let's get some dango. You have to be in top form tomorrow when you have your evaluation. You want to keep your place as top student of your year right?" she asked.

"Of course. I will show them what I am made of."

"That's my little sister" Anko said proudly.


	17. Chapter 17

**Results **

Naruto sat at the kitchen table and ate his breakfast. At the other side his father was drinking tea and reading a report with important information for a meeting he had this morning. Naruto knew that something important was going on. For two years now there were visits of ANBU at the mansion to give his father updates to some case. Naruto didn't know what was going on and he knew better than to ask his father as he would tell him if he was allowed to know. Eventually Minato lowered his report and looked at his son. He was very proud of him. He had worked hard and has improved his skills immensely. Today he would get the results of his first evaluation.

The last week Naruto had been on vacation. He had played with his friends, went swimming with them, they even camped in the forest at the estates grounds for two days. He encouraged his son to just be a child for once. And he was happy to see that Naruto had good friends.

"And how do you feel about getting your results today?" Minato asked.

"I'm excited. I'm curious where I was ranked. From there I can start and work on my abilities. I'm pretty sure that I managed to be under the first third of my year. Except the chakra control test the other tests went quite well" Naruto answered.

Minato chuckled a bit. He had predicted that this part of the test would be the hardest for Naruto as he had massive chakra reserves which made it hard to control them.

"I'm sure you did. By the way, when you are finished with school today come to the tower. I have to work long today and I want to know your results when you get them."

"You don't know already?" Naruto asked surprised.

"No, with the new system we have to get the village working I only get to see the overall results after the students have been told. It's not critical knowledge for me so I am not informed immediately. The only exception are the results of the graduates as I am in charge of the composition of the genin teams. From the last evaluation test in the middle of the sixth year to the graduation I get constant updates of the students performances."

"I see."

"Did you already think about which extra courses you will take this year?" Minato asked.

"Yes, I will take weapons, advanced traps and an advanced taijutsu class."

"Why did you choose those?" Minato wanted to know.

He had been pretty sure Naruto would want to take fuinjutsu to show his very advanced abilities.

"Well, Danzo sensei and you hammered into my head that a ninjas greatest tool is deception and that a good shinobi shouldn't show of all his abilities. Therefore I decided not to go to the fuinjutsu classes as I am way ahead of everybody else in this field. And I doubt I could learn more from academy teachers than from one of the best sealmasters in the world daddy" Naruto said grinning.

"For the others I want to improve my taijutsu. It's good but I could be better. If I want to become Hokage one day I have to be proficient with every field and taijutsu is one of the most basic. Weapons I think will be useful as I could surprise an opponent with them. If I learn to handle a weapon and seal it somewhere at my body or my clothes nobody would knew and I had an ace in my sleeve. And the sooner I start with this training the better I will be at the end of the academy."

"Very good Naruto. You know. A lot of people wouldn't believe that you are just eight years old the way you behave and speak."

"Hey, I'm just awesome. And I learned from the best daddy."

It was true. Naruto was learning from Minato, Danzo, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Shizune. While especially Jiraiya had a childish attitude when it came to peeping, he could be serious when it was needed. Danzo never joked and didn't tolerate it from his students while the trained. Minato was a prank master and loved confusing people but he could be all business. And Tsunade and Shizune made very sure that Naruto learned proper ettiquette. He was the heir of two clans and a prince of whirlpool. It was normal that he was quite mature for his age.

"I'm very proud of you son. Now get ready for the academy. I will accompany you on the way before I go to the tower."

Naruto cheered and ran to his room to get his things.

* * *

Their way was uneventful. They were greeted by a lot villagers and as his father accompanied him his fangirls didn't dare to come too near to him. He really hoped the hopeless cases would be dropped out now. He liked acknowledgement from others but he hated this idiocy. If they wanted to swoon over boys instead of training they should remain civilians. Halfway to the academy a woman tried to flirt with his father but he politely declined her advances.

'Bad luck lady. Daddy still loves mommy. He doesn't want another woman in his life. And especially no woman like you. He can do much better' Naruto thought.

It was true. Even if a lot of people tried to persuade Minato to find another woman, Jiraiya thought it was terribly wrong for him to be alone for the rest of his life, he couldn't bring himself to let go of Kushina. He had loved her more than anybody else. Her loss was a deep wound in his heart. It had healed somewhat especially as Naruto brought happiness in his life but he couldn't believe to be able to love another woman as much as he had loved Kushina.

So he dedicated his love solely on his son. That was enough for him. And Naruto needed so much attention. He had few problems from his early childhood but one was the fear to be left alone. He could be alone for some time but he would become nervous if it was for a long time. Naruto understood his duties as the Hokage well and he behaved well enough but it was always a challenge for him to share his attention with somebody else, especially when he wanted his father for himself. Minato tried to ensure that he had at least the afternoons on the weekends solely for his son. And not to train but to have fun. Naruto trained enough as it was.

They reached the academy. Naruto saw his friends and Minato smiled.

"Okay Naruto. Good luck for your results. I await you later at the tower" he embraced him.

"Yes daddy. I will make you proud of me."

"I already am Naruto. Have a nice day." Minato used a shunshin no jutsu to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto walked over to his friends. They discussed their test and speculated who would be at the top of the students.

"Hm it's hard to say. We don't have a clue about the written part and the results of the trap building were also not really announced" Sai said.

"We know that Sasuke was best at the weapon throwing part closely followed by Naruto. He also was second best in taijutsu after Hinata who was forth in throwing. Hinata aced the second chakra control exercise which Naruto messed up. But he was best at trap building. I think it will be one of the three."

"I'm just glad none of you three has a superiority complex. I don't want to imagine what would happen if you would think everybody was just a hindrance for you" Mai said shuddering.

"Well good thing that we have each other to get humbling defeats from time to time. I know I tend to boast my abilities if I don't get a reality check sometimes" Naruto admitted.

Sasuke nodded. He had the same problem. Some of the older Uchihas persisted on believing that the Uchiha clan was superior to everybody else. Idiots who solely depended on their sharingan. Sasuke already dreaded that the eye had the side effect to make people stupid. It was a good explanation for the idiotic plans to attempt to take over Konoha when he had been three. But Itachi had ensured him that if he just treated the sharingan eye when he awakened it like any other tool, a very powerful tool but a tool nonetheless, he would be safe. Sasuke just hoped his brother was right.

* * *

The bell rang and all the now third years were told to meet in the biggest classroom of their year. Their three previous class teachers stood in front of the room and waited patiently for everybody to settle down. This would be the last time all of these children would be together like this. There had been a lot of children who didn't meet the expectations of the academy. They hadn't taken the warnings of their teachers serious and would now pay the price for slacking or behaving as fangirls.

"First I want to say that it was a nice experience to teach you all" Renzo began to speak. "Most of you have put their best effort in their training and have qualifies to continue their studies at the academy and gained the privilege to learn some more advanced techniques to become good ninjas. But some of you ignored our continued warnings to quit their stupid behavior. Those will be leaving the academy today. You will get application forms for civilian schools and can learn another profession for your further life."

Some children were stunned. They hadn't expected for the teachers to really take consequences.

Shimato continued. "Additionally to the evaluation tests yesterday there are two more components that decide if you will be able to continue here. Ninja life is a life where you are always confronted with death. Therefore a sloppy attitude will lead to you being killed in the field. This Konoha will not allow. It is unavoidable that ninjas die when they do their duties but it is avoidable to send idiots into the field who think they will be special because the can do a few flashy jutsus. Those are the first to die. We have the advantage of current peace but this peace is fragile and only those who are able to take their profession serious will survive and become ninjas."

He looked over the children. Some of their eyes burned with determination to prove they took this life serious.

"The two additional components are determination in training and attitude towards your comrades. We ninjas in Konoha value our comrades higher than any other nation because they are all that is between us and the secure death at our enemies hands. It is said that a team is only as strong as its weakest link but it is also true that a team that works well together will be unproportionally stronger than the sum of the abilities of the single teammates. If you don't value your comrades highly you hurt yourself. Always remember this."

"Now we will start with those who didn't reach the requested results and hand them their application forms for the civilian schools" Akira the teacher of the B class said.

He began to read one name after the other. Totally fifteen names were called. The children were sad that they couldn't remain at the academy. Some were reasonable and perhaps a little bit glad that they wouldn't be confronted with death repeatedly.

"Additionally to these fifteen we have five children who didn't meet the required level but persuaded us with their attitude that they could become ninjas if given a little bit more time and support."

Akira also read their names.

"You five presented us that you really want to become ninjas and trained hard. You respected your comrades and tried your best at the tests. Therefore Hokage sama allowed you to stay here for another year to better your abilities. You will be given some remedial classes in the subjects you have most problems. Additionally we looked up subjects you would probably be good at to add to your studies. Your new class teacher will discuss this with you."

The five were happy. They were from civilian families and had tried really hard to become better but without support at home for their training they couldn't become as good as the children with ninja background.

"Now to the new classes. We have fifty-one students left at the academy. First we want to congratulate you to your success but we also want to warn you not to stop your training. From now on every six months you will be tested for your ranking in the year. The reason for this is to help you to develop to the best of your abilities. It's a good way to find your strengths and weaknesses. But it also allows us to find those who slack in training and as you have seen Konoha won't tolerate those who don't take their profession serious in the ranks" Shimato reminded them.

"We will have three classes of seventeen students each. They were built based on your ranking in the test. You have the chance to rise through the classes if you improve in the next test. But don't think you are failures if you are in the class with the students with the least points. This class will receive extra support to enable you to reach your full potential. Also we selected twenty of you who presented the best chakra control to take the medical classes Tsunade sama will give. Konoha needs good medics and a good chakra control is necessary for a medic. Now to the classes."

Shimato started with the bottom class and the children went with Akira as he would be their new class teacher. Then he read the middle class and they went with Renzo. In this class were Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, Yakumo Kurama and two of Narutos friends from Danzos orphanage. Sakura was a little mad that she couldn't be in the same class as Sasuke but she knew better than to protest. A lot of her friends had been sent to civilian schools and she didn't want to follow them. She knew she was lucky that she had really good chakra control and that the written part was strategy. If it hadn't been for those two parts she would have been worse.

Kiba loudly voiced his anger that he wasn't in the top class as he thought was his right. He was quickly put down by Renzo and told that he was lucky to be in the middle class because he was the worst of them. He only just got in because of his good taijutsu and weapon results. He had been marked down for his attitude towards his comrades and his abysmal chakra control.

Then the top class would be taught by Shimato. Some of the results were surprising. Five of the students were from civilian families and enjoyed the attention to have beaten some of the clan children. From the clans were Shino Aburame, Manami Akimichi, Reina Nara, Hitomi Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka, Naruto Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga. From their other friends Mai Nakasawa and Sai also were in this class with two others from ninja families. Wataru Ikonama and Shinji Orotate. Watarus father was well known for his abilities in kenjutsu and Shinjis mother was in the ANBU.

"Well, I think you are curious who were the top scorers in the test right?" Shimato asked.

He got nods from all of his new students.

"Then I will tell you. Third ranked was Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke got a little applause.

"Second ranked was Namikaze Naruto."

Naruto also got applause. A lot of the others wondered who got the top spot if those two were beaten for the place.

"First ranked was Hyuga Hinata."

Loud applause was heard for Hinata whose face became beet red and she tried really hard to stay awake especially as Naruto came and hugged her.

"Congratulations Hinata you really deserve this" he said.

"If you wonder why Hinata is the top student, the reason is simple. In all of the seven parts of the test she scored very high, especially in taijutsu, strategy and chakra control. Also she trained hard from the beginning and helped her comrades to better themselves. Sasuke and Naruto were also good in these parts but their chakra control was worse."

Sasuke and Naruto could accept this without problems. They knew their control needed a lot of work because they had big reserves. Mai and Ino looked pleased at Hinata. It didn't happen every day that a kunoichi beat two of the best male students for the spot of top student.

"Now we will continue. As you know you can chose which subjects you want to study during your time at the academy. I hope you gave this some thoughts during your vacation because I will give you the forms to select your new subjects today. I want them back tomorrow."

Shimato told them about the regular classes they would have and what would be part of the special classes they would be allowed to take. At lunch time they were allowed to leave as today weren't any classes. They would start tomorrow.

* * *

Minato sat in the meeting with the council. They had to discuss the new treaty with Sunagakure. The Kazekage would visit Konoha with his children to give them the chance to see another hidden village. Some of the council members were worried because the youngest son of the Kazekage was said to be unstable and a ruthless killer.

"I think we should ask Kazekage sama to leave his youngest son at home. It would be too dangerous for the village if he got out of control and started killing innocent people" a man from the new civilian council voiced his doubts.

"I think we should let him bring Gaara with him" Minato disagreed. "As our spies told us Gaara is a jinchuriki like Naruto and Yugito. It could be possible that if he sees how two other jinchurikis live and behave that he could get more control over his demon. Suna always had the Ichibi no Shukaku the weakest of the biju. From the information I got I think his seal is way weaker than those of Naruto and Yugito. If we could help him with his seal we could strengthen our alliance with Suna."

"But if this all is a trick?" Inoichi asked. "If the Kazekage plans to weaken us by letting Gaara run on a killing spree?"

"I don't think Suna would risk that. Gaara is only eight years old like Naruto. Even with the Ichibi any Jonin could get him under control. The weakness of the Ichibi is water as it makes his sand unusable. And we have enough water around Konoha. If anything goes wrong I can summon Gamabunta and he can use massive water attacks" Minato reassured them.

"I also hope that if Gaara met Naruto they could become friends. If I am correct the only thing the boy needs is somebody who can relate to him and treats him like any other child. The Kazekage is a hard man. He only thinks about the strength of Suna not about the people. If he would he would never have made his own son a jinchuriki without necessity." Minato despised such men. But he had to work with the Kazekage.

The council agreed that Gaara would be allowed to accompany his father but they would have ANBU trailing the boy that were specialized in water attacks if he got out of control.

* * *

Naruto was on his way to the tower to tell his father his results. On his way he was greeted by a lot of people. Near the tower he met the Sandaime with his four year old grandson Konohamaru. He liked the little boy. He saw him like a big brother and wanted to be as good as Naruto.

"Naruto nii-san" Konohamaru shouted.

"Hey Kono. What's up?" Naruto asked grinning.

"Hello grandpa" he greeted the Sandaime.

"Hello Naruto" the Sandaime greeted back. "Already out of the academy?"

"Yes we got our results of the first evaluation tests today so we only had academy until lunchtime. I'm going to the tower to tell daddy how I was."

"That's nice. Would you tell me your results?" the Sandaime asked.

"Sure. I am ranked second in my year behind Hinata-chan. I really have to work on my chakra control to be able to beat her."

"You got beaten by a girl?" Konohamaru asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, Hinata-chan is a very strong girl. Don't underestimate girls Kono you could regret it. Think of my grandmother Tsunade if you don't believe me."

Konohamaru nodded shivering. The medic nin could be scary if she wanted to be.

"Naruto-nii-san will you play with me?" Konohamaru asked.

"Not now, I promised daddy to come to the tower first thing when I got out of the academy but we can play this afternoon when you have had you nap."

"I don't need a nap" Konohamaru protested. "I'm a big boy and big boys don't need naps."

"Sure. But I think you will do it because your mother will tell you so. I will come over at four approximately okay?"

"Yes nii-san."

"Okay bye Kono, bye grandpa." Naruto ran on towards the tower.

* * *

Minato had returned to his office ten minutes ago. The meeting had taken a lot of time and he was glad it was over. Naruto should be there any minute to tell him his results. He was curious how his son had performed. He got the list from the academy but he wanted to wait to look on it until Naruto had told him. Just this moment the door flew open and a little blur of yellow, black and orange came in.

"Hey daddy" Naruto shouted happily.

"Hello Naruto. You seem happy. Does this mean you got good results on your test?" Minato asked smiling.

"You bet daddy. I was ranked second of the whole year. Only Hinata-chan was better. Shimato sensei said it was because she was way better in chakra control than Sasuke and me. Sasuke was ranked third."

"That's great Naruto. I'm proud of you. You did really good."

Naruto smiled brightly. He loved being praised by his father.

"I think this is a good reason for a celebration Naruto. I will leave some shadow clones at the office and finish for today. And we will go eat something. Where do you want to go?"

"Ichiraku" Naruto cheered.

Minato chuckled. He should have known. He performed the kagebunshin no jutsu and six clones got to work. Minato led Naruto outside of the office and told his secretary that he would be out of office the rest of the day. She just nodded. It wasn't the first time that the Hokage left shadow clones to do his work.

The two reached the ramen stand a few minutes later and sat down at the counter.

"Hello Teuchi" Minato greeted the chef.

"Hello Teuchi" Naruto also greeted. "I want a big bowl of miso ramen with pork" he declared.

"Hello Hokage sama, hello Naruto. I will get your order ready Naruto. What do you want Hokage sama?" Teuchi asked.

"I want chicken ramen please."

"It will be ready in a few minutes" Teuchi said. He started preparing the orders.

Naruto began telling Minato who was in his new class, what their new subjects were, how he would become the best ninja ever and that his friends started teasing him and Hinata.

"I don't know why they think that Hinata-chan and I could be a couple" he said when Teuchi put the bowls of ramen in front of the two.

Minato grinned. That was too good. Kushina would have had a field day with this revelation. She and Hinatas mother Hikari had always joked that their two children would be the perfect couple. But he could understand Narutos doubts. He was just eight years old and had never seen a real relationship inside his family. As his mother was dead and he didn't want another woman at his side he didn't know about this part of relationships.

His grandmother only beat his godfather up when he did something perverted again and Shizune and Kakashi didn't have relationships. Even if Minato suspected that they were somewhat interested in each other. They of course completely denied it.

So Naruto was somewhat dense towards something beyond friendship. Well he would eventually get it and they had all the time they needed. At the moment the peace was secured and when Suna signed the new alliance contract they were in an even stronger position.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello everybody,**

**here is my newest chapter. I want to thank all of my fantastic regular reviewers. I try to use the positive and negative critics to better my story. As many may have guessed this will eveolve into a Naruto x Hinata story. But Hinata won't be the shy insecure girl like she is in the canon. She won't become a loudmouth or something like that that is too much out of character but whe will be way more confident. Much credit will go to Ino and Mai for this. :)**

**For those who asked if I will keep some of my OCs well, yes I will. Mai will definitely stay and be sorted with the other known characters into teams. As I have Sai and Yakumo at the Academy I just needed another person to have a full three man cell. But the teams are not yet decided. **

**But they won't be the same as in canon. As for Sakura. Well I have some plans for her and she will get a nice wake up call but I won't say more here. It's a surprise.**

**Now enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

A scared tanuki

Naruto sat at the academy during the lesson after their last mock mission training. Shimato sensei was explaining the observations the teachers that had been positioned at the training ground they had used, had made. Each student had been given a sheet with his personal skills, that he or she had shown so they could work on their weak points. Now the overall strategies and movements of the groups were discussed.

The mock mission had been a variant of capture the flag. Half of the teams of three had been given an item to protect, the other half had to try and steal said item from the protecting groups. Naruto had been partnered with Choji Akimichi and Sanae Ito. Each group had been built with one student from each of the three classes to balance the teams out for this.

Narutos group did fairly well. Both Choji and Sanae had agreed to let Naruto plan the strategy and went along. Choji with his massive body had been able to stop all their attackers who tried to get their item. Sanae, who was really good with wires had tied them up after Naruto and Choji trapped them. Their group even got one item from another group. Nobody had forbidden that the groups who had items couldn't also go trying to steal some more was Narutos argument.

Also if some others managed to defeat them they could just give up one item and still have one of their own to pass the test he argued. Choji and Sanae found this logical.

Shimato sensei had drawn a diagram to show the different strategies that could have been used by the students and which had been used in the mock mission. After pointing out the efficiency of each of the used strategies he connected the mock mission to a real scenario of the ninjas daily life. He pointed out the consequences of each strategy to make the students realize what sometimes was at stake if a mission failed and the ninjas were caught.

None of the students knew about it but during the sixth year of the academy there would be classes where the head of the torture and interrogation department of the ANBU would teach them some things how enemies would try to get information.

* * *

When the lesson was over the students headed out to get lunch. Naruto wanted to talk a bit with Hinata and Ino as both of the girls had their first medical classes after lunch break with his grandmother. Hinata had been really happy to see that she was one of the twenty students that had been invited to join the classes. Ino had been surprised but very pleased. That would be a good opportunity to learn another area of ninjutsu. And she thought her knowledge of plants due to her parents running a flower shop could come in handy.

But Naruto was called by an ANBU before he could get to talk to both girls.

"Naruto, your father the Hokage sent me to get you immediately" the ANBU explained. He wore a tiger mask and a black cloak.

"Huh? Okay it must be important if daddy sent you here" Naruto answered slightly confused.

His father had never before sent an ANBU to get him from the academy. He always waited until he was home when he wanted to tell him something. There had to be something serious going on if he did this.

The other students looked curiously at Naruto and the ANBU. They didn't get to see the masked ninjas often. Only in cases of emergency they acted openly. Of course every academy student knew about the ANBU as they were explained during the first week at the academy as part of the ninja system and the duties of each rank.

The ANBU put his hand on Narutos shoulder and used a shunshin no jutsu to take Naruto with him to the Hokage tower.

A moment later they reappeared outside of Minatos office. The ANBU knocked and Minato called them in.

"A I see tiger got you Naruto. Please sit down, I want to discuss something with you" Minato told Naruto with a kind but serious face.

Naruto nodded and sat on one of the chairs in front of his father's desk. The ANBU exited the office. Minato formed some fast handseals and the seals at the walls began glowing. Naruto was now on edge. If his father thought it necessary to activate the privacy seals in his office this was very serious. But what could he want to discuss that was this serious with him? He was just eight years old.

"I see you are wondering what I have to tell you that requires the activation of the privacy seals, right Naruto?" Minato stated.

"Yes daddy. You only use these seals if something is very important. But normally this involves higher ranked ninjas. I am only an academy student."

"You are right Naruto. But this is about something that involves your status as a jinchuriki" Minato explained.

Naruto looked at his father's face. He waited for him to continue.

"In two days the Kazekage of Suna will arrive at Konoha and he will bring his three children with him. Temari the oldest child is three years older than you are. Kankuro the middle child is two years older and the youngest Gaara is your age. Suna is in a dire situation as our spies told us. Their daimyo has reduced their fundings and drawn some of the missions that normally goes to Suna away. This could become a big problem in the future. People are willing to make harsh decisions when they are forced into a corner."

Minato looked if Naruto was following him and saw pleased that his son paid rapt attention to him.

"One action the Kazekage had taken was to use the one tailed tanuki, the Ichibi no Shukaku to make a new jinchuriki to improve the quality in Suna's ninjas. The jinchuriki is his youngest son Gaara."

Naruto gasped. That was a complete different reason than his father's had been when he had to make him a jinchuriki. He had been forced to seal Kyubi in him to prevent the destruction of Konoha. Gaara was put into this situation to become a weapon. Only because some adults were stupid.

"I see you understand. The Kazekage wanted a weapon to strengthen Suna and sacrificed his own son. In my eyes the most despicable reason to create a jinchuriki. And from what we were able to find out they messed the seal up. It is nowhere as stable as yours and the boy is known to be a ruthless killer. But I doubt that he really is that unstable. I think he only needs some help with his seal and friendly contacts to be broken out of his behavior."

"That's what you want me to do right? To try to be a friend to this Gaara" Naruto realized.

"Yes. I want you to try to become his friend. You know how jinchurikis are treated if the people are ignorant and nobody really makes them see the mistakes they make with their behavior. My suspicion is that Gaara is just trying to make people see him the only way he can think of. With a demon who seems to influence his mind and nothing but hatred thrown at him, he tries to protect himself this way. I will try to improve his seal so that his demon can't influence him anymore but to heal his soul he will need people he can trust."

"Okay daddy I will do it. But what about his sibling you said he had. Couldn't they help him, I mean we live in two different villages. It will be difficult to help him when he is in Suna."

"Don't worry. For this there is somebody else who will try to make his siblings see that a jinchuriki with a working seal is nothing to be afraid of. Yugito will be around Temari and Kankuro to make them realize that Gaara is still their little brother and not some kind of monster."

"I only hope she doesn't try to involve them in her attempts to show me up" Naruto mumbled. Minato only grinned.

"Well, we have to prepare you for the arrival of the Kazekage and his children, therefore I let the ANBU take you from the academy. Even if Gaara is not at fault for what he had become, he is nonetheless very dangerous. The Ichibi no Shukaku gives him control over sand. If it is like with previous containers of the demon, the sand acts as an automatic shield to protect the boy from outside attacks. The one weakness of sand is water. If the sand gets wet, it won't be able to be used as before.

Therefore I have ordered eight of our best water technique specialists to guard you and Gaara during his whole stay. They will keep their distance but I won't take any risk if Gaara loses control."

"Yes that makes sense. As Hokage you can't endanger the village even if you want to help Gaara" Naruto said.

"And I also would never endanger you Naruto. You are the most important person in my life and I will do everything I can to protect you."

Naruto smiled.

* * *

"So you all remember the plan?" the voice of a man asked.

"Yes leader sama" many other voices answered.

"The locating of the jinchuriki is our first priority. We know the location of the Ichibi in Suna, the Kyubi is in Konoha, the Sanbi is in Kiri, the Yonbi and Gobi are in Iwa and the Hachibi in Kumo. But we don't know where the Nibi, the Rokubi and the Nanabi are. And we don't know the identities of the jinchurikis. For the next years your job is to collect as much money as you can to collect a solid funding for our operation and to find out who the containers of the bijus are. Keep a very low profile. We are not yet ready to show ourselves to the elemental countries" the leader explained.

"Understood" the answers came and the illusionary forms of the Akatsuki members faded.

'Soon my plan will be completed' Madara thought satisfied.

If only he knew that there would be high resistance. Minato would fight tooth and nail to protect Naruto. And there also was a certain god that was more than displeased with his continued evasion from death.

* * *

A red haired boy was following the man that had given half of the genetic material that had led to his existence. He refused to see that man as his father. He was responsible for the loneliness in his life. The continued assassination attempts. For Yashamarus death. It had been two years now that the one person he had truly trusted had tried to kill him. He was just one of them but it hurt the most.

Since then he hadn't let anybody near him. They all only wanted one thing. To kill him or to use him. So why should he spare them? If he was meant to be a weapon, then he would be one, but on his own conditions. He killed to prove his existence. Nothing else. It had led to more loneliness. But what could he do? He wouldn't let them kill him. No he only needed his mother who encouraged him to kill those who threatened him. He was strong and he knew it.

Deep inside there was another part of him. The child he really was. The child who wanted to have friends to not be left alone. But this was only an unrealistic dream. Who would dare to befriend him? The demon of the sand? But he could dream. He could hope. This perhaps was what let him keep some level of sanity. The impossibility to sleep didn't help either.

They were headed to Konoha. The man who was Kazekage hoped to ensure good relations with the village. He had heard that the resurrected Yondaime Hokage was very powerful. The Kazekage didn't want to have this man as his enemy. But he had heard whispers about the financial problems of Suna due to the decreased funding from their daimyo.

He had been made a jinchuriki to help improving the level of single ninjas. Well that had gone horribly wrong. He couldn't control his powers. The Shukaku didn't let him sleep and turned him instable as they said. Well if they had wanted to have a stable container for the demon they should have created a stronger seal.

Gaara was far from stupid. He knew from some studies that the grade of control a jinchuriki had over his powers was related to the strength of the seal. And his was obviously too weak. His studies had also revealed that only an accomplished seal master was able to seal a biju in whatever container. Well Suna sucked in this area in his opinion. So he only did what was within his abilities to survive.

Kill before he was killed. His heart had been torn apart bit by bit with each death his sand caused. But he didn't want to die. He wanted to live. He wanted to prove his existence. He wanted to be seen. Was that so wrong?

How he wished for somebody who could understand him. Who would accept him. Were there others like him? If there were, could he meet them? Did they have a better life or did they suffer as much as him? He wanted to have friends, but he feared to be betrayed again. What should he do?

* * *

Naruto was allowed to stay away from the academy for the two remaining days until the visit of the Kazekage by his father. Minato personally taught his son how to use some small water jutsus that didn't need elemental recomposition so that Naruto would be able to protect himself somewhat if it would be necessary until the ANBU had to interfere. But Minato deeply hoped that Naruto and Gaara would just get along. His ninjas had informed him that the Kazekage and his entourage had passed the border of fire country. It would only be a day now until they arrived.

Due to the mass of preparations Minato had created more shadow clones as normally. And the training for Naruto these two days was also done by him using fifty clones to really master the two jutsus. He had one clone study the different known seals to contain demons so he would be able to help Gaara once he had convinced his father that he could make Gaara more stable and help him to control his demon better.

Naruto was happy to learn the new jutsus. But he was also very excited how Gaara would be. Yugito constantly annoyed him. He couldn't understand why she always tried to show him up. He wondered if all other jinchurikis were like that or if this was just her personality. The Nibi was a cat after all and cat's loved to play with their prey. Perhaps Yugito had gotten some of Nibis character traits. But even if he was a prankster by heart he was fairly sure he had inherited this character trait from his father.

The Kyubi didn't have anything to do with this. Even if Kitsune were known as notorious pranksters.


	19. Chapter 19

**Well, here is the next chapter. **

**It is the start of a longer part where the connection between Naruto and Gaara will be build. I don't know if I can update next week because I didn't write anything yet for the next chapters. I am working on what should happen during Gaaras visit. How Yugito will persuade Temari and Kankuro that a jinchuriki is only as dangerous as he is treated and that Gaara is still their brother.**

**I also think how Minato will deal with the Kazekage. Suggestions are very appreciated.**

**After this arc I will make a new time skip towards the graduation.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters only my Ocs.**

**

* * *

**

Konoha and Suna

Naruto stood at the main gate of Konoha next to his father. Next to them stood Yugito. Both children were dressed in semi formal clothing. Naruto wore a dark blue Yukata and Yugito a red Kimono with white flower patterns. Naruto hated the formal robes he had to wear sometimes when important guests visited the village. Especially the fire daimyo. The man was immensely grateful that he didn't have to spend that much money on his wife's escaping cat anymore. Tora was very content with her new treatment.

Therefore Naruto had to attend nearly all the meetings with the daimyo and his wife and he found them mostly boring. This time he would have company his age when the visitors arrived. And he had a mission. To try to get Gaaras friendship. He really wanted to be Gaaras friend. He was so much like him.

The ninjas of Konoha that were waiting at the gate now could see the first silhouettes of the awaited guests. Minato was calm. He wore the official Hokage robes and not only his cloak which he preferred. He knew enough about Suna ninjas to be on guard without showing it openly. Sunas philosophy was different from Konohas and he had to make sure that Konoha wouldn't get into a disadvantaged position during the setting of the new alliance.

Naruto was curious how Gaara would be and look like. But he tried to not jump around. It was important to make a good first impression with foreign dignitaries as he had learned. And he didn't want to embarrass his father and his clans. Damn his duties as the heir to two clans. Hopefully Gaara wouldn't mind if he let loose when they were alone.

The Suna delegation reached the gates. The Kazekage was travelling in a sedan as his position required. His children were walking beside the sedan with ten ninjas who were the Kazekages personal guards. Then the sedan was put to the ground and the Kazekage exited his travelling vehicle. Minato waited for him to make his way over as it was tradition.

The Kazekages children followed after their father. Naruto now got a good look at the three. The girl, obviously the oldest of the three was blond and had her hair in four pigtails at the back of her head. She wore a blue battle kimono. Probably to be able to move freely during the journey. The next boy had brown hair and wore a black shirt with black pants. The youngest boy had red hair, dark rings around his eyes and a tattoo at his forehead with the kanji for love. His eyes were the most disturbing part of him. They held a look of betrayal and loneliness that Naruto could understand really good. If his father hadn't been resurrected his eyes would look the same by now. Of this he was sure.

Gaara wore dark brown pants and a slightly lighter shirt. At his back was a gourd that was nearly as big as himself. He observed the party of Konoha ninjas that were assembled to greet the Kazekage. The man in the red and white robes with the hat that had the kanji for fire on it was undoubtedly the Yondaime Hokage. This man was dangerous. He radiated a lot of power. Even mother was intimidated by him. He could feel it. Then his eyes fell onto the two children. One girl was there, nearly Temaris age if he guessed right and a boy that could be his age.

Both of them were blond, but not of the same shade. The girls hair color was a dark blonde, the boy had gold blond hair. When he looked at the Hokage he could see the similarities between the two. So the boy was the Hokages son. Interesting. Perhaps he would be a challenge. Then he had to concentrate on something else because the Kazekage greeted the Hokage.

"Hokage sama, it is a pleasure to meet you again" the Kazekage said.

"Likewise Kazekage sama. I wish to welcome you and your entourage to Konoha and hope you will feel welcomed here. Let me please introduce you to my son."

He mentioned to Naruto to step next to him.

"This is my son and heir Naruto Namikaze Senju Uzumaki."

Naruto bowed formally.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kazekage sama" he said.

"Likewise Naruto. I Think then it is my turn to introduce my family. These are my children, the oldest Temari, the next one is Kankuro and the youngest Gaara." He pointed at them while telling their names.

They bowed and gave their respective greeting except for Gaara. The Kazekages face twitched at this but he knew Gaara wouldn't let himself be forced to give an appropriate greeting.

Naruto decided to take things into his hands. He walked towards Gaara. All the Suna ninjas stiffened. Naruto held out his hand.

"Hey Gaara, do you want to be friends?" he asked smiling.

Gaara looked puzzled. This boy wanted to be his friend? Why? Everybody feared him. He searched for any sign of betrayal in the eyes of this boy but he couldn't find any. Perhaps this was his chance. If Naruto would betray him he could still kill him later.

"I would like that Naruto" he said and took the hand of the other boy.

The Suna ninjas didn't believe their eyes. This never happened before. Gaara would kill everybody who would come too near. And this boy just managed to get away with touching him.

"Dad, is it okay if I showed Gaara around in Konoha?" Naruto asked.

When they were in official meetings Naruto tried to behave as mature as possible. And calling his father daddy would probably be immature.

"Of course Naruto. But be back by three o'clock. We want to have the banquet then" Minato explained.

"Yes, thank you dad. Come on Gaara, I want to show you some of the best places in Konoha."

With this Naruto took Gaaras hand again and dragged the red haired boy with him and disappeared soon behind a corner.

"Well, I hope this isn't a problem Kazekage sama. He kind of forgot to ask for your permission in his excitement. He loves to make new friends" Minato explained.

Inwardly he was very proud of Naruto. He didn't give the Kazekage the opportunity to disturb his bonding with Gaara.

"No this is quite all right" the Kazekage answered just hoping that Gaara wouldn't kill the other boy and provoke the fury of the Yondaime Hokage.

"But wouldn't it be better to let some guards follow the boys?" he asked.

"Oh, don't worry about this. Even if Naruto doesn't know it, a squad of Anbus is stationed around Konoha to guarantee his safety. If I told him he would be insulted. So they only show themselves in case of emergency. My son is quite proud of his independence."

"I see. Well, perhaps you could introduce us to the girl that is standing behind you" he said gesturing towards Yugito.

"Of course. Well this is Yugito Nii. She is one of our last year academy students. When I heard you wanted to bring your children I figured it would be nice for Temari and Kankuro to have someone their age showing them around instead of them having to look after their younger brother."

"That's very thoughtful of you Hokage sama" the Kazekage replied.

Temari observed Yugito only to see she was doing the same.

"You aren't some of those girls who just mindlessly chase a boy are you?" Temari asked Yugito carefully.

"Hell beware, I hate that kind of girls. I am a true kunoichi. You also seem to take your ninja career serious. Thank goodness. I really feared I had to babysit some kind of spoiled princess with your father being the Kazekage. Come on, I will show you around and we can get to know each other better. Nothing better than to trade some training tips with a fellow kunoichi in training." Yugito and Temari walked away and Kankuro was stunned.

"Hey wait for me" he shouted.

The girls just grinned evilly.

"Catch us if you can" Temari said and she followed Yugito running away.

"Kids" Minato mumbled.

The others could only nod agreeing.

* * *

Gaara found himself at the top of the Hokage monument. Naruto proudly pointed over the village beneath them.

"See Gaara, this is the best spot in the village to see everything. You know, one day I will be Hokage and protect this village for all my precious people who live here. My father, my grandmother, my godfather, my friends, even that annoying Yugito, the blond girl that was there when you arrived at Konoha" he added after seeing Gaaras puzzled look.

"Why would you do that? You can't trust anybody. I had to learn that the hard way" Gaara said stoic.

"Man, they really give you a hard life in Suna" Naruto stated.

"What would you know?" Gaara asked harshly.

"I know personally how blind people can be if they are afraid and nobody sets them straight. No sense to dance around the cake, I know you are a jinchuriki" Naruto began and abruptly Gaaras sand reacted violently.

"Calm down Gaara, I still want to be your friend" Naruto added.

The sand stopped before him and Gaara looked disbelievingly into Narutos eyes.

"You know and you don't care?" he asked.

"Why would I? I am a jinchuriki myself. I contain the Kyubi no Kitsune. Which one do you have?" he asked.

"The Ichibi no Shukaku" Gaara anwered stunned.

This boy was like him and yet he was treated normally, even with respect from what he had seen in the village as they passed by.

"How can you be so normal?" Gaara asked after some time.

"Believe me, without my father it would be very different. When I was born the Kyubi attacked the village and the only possibility to save it was for it to be sealed as no human could kill a biju. They are too powerful. My father sacrificed his life to summon the Shinigami to use his power to seal the fox into me. The council back then was corrupt and only wanted power. They made it so that they got more power than before my father died and grandpa Sandaime was forced to let it happen as he was only made Hokage again when it was already over.

I was put into an orphanage as the council prevented for me to be adopted by the Sarutobi or Hyuga clan. I lived there for three years and I was very lonely and nearly nobody ever gave me a kind look. The children were kept away from me. I got very little to eat and no toys. But the worst was when I was thrown out just after Christmas. Well that day my father returned. He was resurrected by the Shinigami because Shinigami sama lot a poker game against my guardian angel."

Gaara looked at Naruto with a look clearly saying _'Do you really think I believe that?'_

"Hey, it's true" Naruto pouted, correctly interpreting the look on Gaaras face.

"Well, I was chased that day and some mean villagers wanted to hurt me, but then dad found me, rescued me and after this we went to grandpa Sandaime. My father took back his Hokage title and yelled at the village for being idiots who couldn't understand the difference between a prison and the prisoner. Since then everything changed for the better. The corrupt council was put into prison, some were executed for treason and most of the villagers accept me now for what I am."

"Well, I had the Ichibi sealed in me to make me the ultimate weapon of Suna. My father doesn't care about me, just power. When I turned six, he decided that I couldn't be controlled and was a failed experiment. I can't control the Shukaku. He sent assassins after me ever since. But my sand protects me" Gaara was looking down.

"Due to some incompetent sealing I can't sleep, if I do Shukaku takes over."

"Would you show me your seal Gaara? I am learning about fuinjutsu and perhaps I can see what is wrong. And I am sure my dad could fix it. He is the greatest sealmaster there is" Naruto asked.

Gaara looked uncertain. Perhaps this really could help him. He slowly pulled up his shirt and showed Naruto the seal on his stomach. Naruto frowned.

"That can't be true. That seal is completely useless to contain a demon. Your sealmasters must be suicidal morons. We have to see my dad as soon as possible. This can't go on" Naruto was furious.

"What's wrong with the seal?" Gaara asked.

"Well, seals have a certain structure. They consist of many different components. For a seal meant to contain a demon you need a part where the demon is locked up, very similar to a storage seal but different. Then you need some layers of filters to stop the evil chakra from destroying the body of the container, mental blockers so the demon can't meddle with the containers mind, converting parts so the container can use the demon chakra for his own needs and barriers to stop the demon escaping. Your seal lacks mental blockers, some barriers and the converting parts are strange but I can't point it out completely. But you got really messed up with your seal" Naruto explained.

Gaara growled. He had already known his seal was too weak but for another eight year old boy to see what all the so called seal masters of Suna didn't in years. Yes ironic. Naruto checked his watch.

"We have at least two hours until the meeting is finished. Do you want to play until then?" Naruto asked.

"Play?" Gaara asked with a disbelieving look.

Naruto flinched.

"They didn't let you right?" he asked.

Gaara shook his head.

"Well, then we will certainly play together. Let's get some of my friends and we will head towards the park. At this time they should get out of the academy. Don't worry, they all know I am a jinchuriki and they still like me. They will be nice to you too" Naruto assured Gaara.

Gaara nodded and followed Naruto towards the academy still confused how all of this could happen in such a short period of time. He got hope. This boy, his friend he corrected himself, wanted to help him, he really understood him. Perhaps he really had a chance at a better life.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Comments to some reviews:

Well, as I have seen, some are wondering why I make Naruto this strong at the age of eight. Well, he isn't really that much stronger than his peers, except for the area of sealing and his easy learning of jutsus.

As he is now part of two clans and has five of the most powerful ninjas in Konoha training him (Minato, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Danzo, Kakashi), he will be very well trained. Additionally the academy isn't as much of a joke like in the original story so all the students will be stronger than normal as they will be better trained. He will be at the top of his year along with some others like Sasuke, Hinata and Sai.

So, now let's start.

**A much needed wake-up call**

The academy would end early today due to the visitors of Suna. Some of the kids from the clans would have to accompany their parents to the banquet at three. The only exception were some students that Tsunade had called to stay behind because she wanted to discuss something with them. One of these students was Sakura Haruno.

The girl was one of the twenty children of her year that had been chosen for the medical program due to her high level of chakra control. But the girl was slacking in her training as Tsunade was fully aware of. So she decided to give the girl a wake-up call. If she wanted to become a good ninja and a medic in particular she would have to shape up soon.

With her there were four other students that were in a similar situation. Three girls were children of civilian families, one boy was from a ninja family.

"Do you know why I called you four her?" Tsunade asked.

She was met with four shaken heads.

"You are here because I found that you four did not take your training serious."

She didn't let the four protest. It was too important to get this through to them that being a ninja wasn't some kind of game.

"Answer one question. Why do you want to be a ninja?"

The four were taken aback. They didn't expect something like this to happen.

"So? Can none of you answer my question?"

The boy from the ninja family was the first one to answer.

"I entered the academy because everybody in my family is a ninja. I didn't want to disappoint my family."

Tsunade nodded he was at least honest.

"I want to become a ninja to impress …" Sakura began but was interrupted by Tsunade.

"I thought so. This will be the same reason for the other two. You want to impress your love interest. Do you know what a ninja is? What we do if ordered?"

They looked questioningly at Tsunade.

"A ninja of Konoha is a soldier under the command of the Hokage. If the Hokage orders us we have to fulfill missions that can go against some of the understandings of moral civilians have. As three of you are born to civilian families you probably have been raised to this morals. If ordered a ninja will assassinate others. If ordered we lie, deceit, betray and kill others. It is necessary because we live in a cruel world."

Tsunade paused to let the message sink in. She didn't want to be overly cruel but these children had to realize what was coming in the future.

"You may ask why we do something like this. The answer is, if we don't, the other hidden villages will not hesitate to use our reluctance to attack first. Konoha has very high moral standards in comparison to other hidden villages especially Iwa. But sometimes we don't have a choice but to do what is necessary. I have lived through two wars. I have killed many ninjas. Even if I am a medic nin. Sometimes you have to decide to do unpleasant things to protect those you love. I lost my fiancé in the war, I lost my little brother, I thought I lost my son and my grandson when Kyubi attacked."

She took a deep breath.

"As a ninja you have to cope with these kinds of losses. Perhaps you have seen some older ninjas with crazy attitudes. Those are measures to compensate for their losses in the past. Everyone has a different method to do this. What I what to say is, if you are not willing to do these things, if you are not willing to risk your lives for the village so that others are safe when you are not, then you are not cut out to be a ninja and should look for another profession. I don't do this to discourage you but to give you the chance to better yourselves. Now you still have time to shape up. If you want to go this way, then put all your effort into your training. Stop chasing your love interests."

She saw the three girls starting to protest.

"This is no game. And I know for a fact that Sasuke, Naruto and Sai dislike fangirls. You have no chance to get any of them with your behavior. Putting only the minimum of effort into your training won't get you anywhere other than an early death. That's all I wanted to tell you. Go home and think about my words."

"But we …" one girl started.

"Don't make me say this again. Go home and think, really think about what I told you. Think if you are really willing to risk your life for people who will probably never fully understand you. Who can't understand you fully. But who you chose to protect because they are part of your village. To put others before yourself is a major part of the will of fire our village is proud of."

With that Tsunade walked away. The four looked at each other glumly and then only shrugged and walked home.

Sakura arrived at her home where her father had left some lunch for her as he was working at the merchants guild during the day. Normally they would see each other during the evening, talk about their days and then Sakura would go to bed. Her father never really mentioned her mother but she knew he wasn't happy that she was imprisoned.

But he also didn't talk bad about the Hokage who was the one who convicted her for treason against Konoha. But Sakura didn't understand the reason why what her mother did was seen as treason. And now what Tsunade, the Hokage's mother had told them. Did she really want to risk her life for the people who hero worshipped the man that was responsible for her family's situation? Sure he found a way to stop the Kyubi but she couldn't really understand what this meant to the people of Konoha as she had been an infant when the demon attacked. She didn't have memories.

But she knew she had some talent. Otherwise she wouldn't have been allowed to stay at the academy. That much was for sure. She had a very bright mind. She learned easily. But if Tsunade was right and she was one of the Sannin for a reason, then perhaps she should think about her way. There was no way she would be someone Sasuke despised. But how could she impress him? She didn't want to work physically more than what was needed. It made you sweat and stink from training.

But only someone with some kind of ninja training would even be considered by the young Uchiha boy. So she couldn't give up on the ninja academy. But then there were some subjects that led into specializations that didn't need to much physical work. Medical jutsus for example. The requirement to be a successful medic nin were high levels of chakra control and lots of special knowledge. That she could gain. For this she could work. That would even be fun. And if she would become the best at it Sasuke had to see her accomplishments.

Next area were Genjutsus. Those also were mostly non physical skills. You had to be somewhat fit to really profit from the distractions they gave but nothing overly difficult. And not many ninjas chose to work with this special area of ninja skills.

So Sakura made a decision. She would prove her own way that she would become successful. With skills that didn't force her to be not like a true lady like her mother always wanted her to be. She would be in the shadows and then strike.

If Tsunade had gotten famous with medic jutsus she also could do it. What Sakura didn't remember though was that Tsunade was not only famous for being the best medic nin but also for her super human strength. Well, perhaps she would find that out before it would kill her to be physically too weak to endure battle.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A new chapter at last. Sorry I couldn't update sooner, but I have a new job and that took a lot of my time. But now I will continue with the story. I think I won't be able to update every weekend like before, but at least every two weeks.

Well the last chapter had the meaning to explain why Sakura would train some of the ninja arts in the future. I don't plan to make her a major character even if I don't mind the older Sakura of the Shippuden time (except the fake confession).

**Conference of Kages**

Minato sat in a seat across the Yondaime Kazekage. This man was clearly completely different than him. But he was the leader of his village and so they had to cooperate if they wanted their villages to florish. Minato knew that it was foolish to tip the scales of power too much in favor of Konoha. After all the old saying was the friendship between the ninja villages was the balance of their strengths. Wind countries' daimyo was a fool to think that Suna would ignore the effects of his politics forever. They couldn't. They depended to be able to protect their country in the case of war.

The Kazekage was a man that would always put his duty before his people. He firmly believed that if the village was strong his people would be all right. He was sadly mistaken if he would have asked Minato. Strength without a good reason to use it, like protecting, was useless. Something he had to remind Orochimaru of when they finally found the bastard. But if he wasn't careful now in this meeting, he could insult the Kazekage and the delicate balance of the villages could be disturbed.

'Oh how much do I hate politics. Fighting sometimes seems so much easier. Just straight forward and the winner sets the rules. But then there are too many casualties that way if done at a grand scale. We don't need another shinobi war. The last one was horrible enough. I don't want to senselessly kill if I can prevent it. And I don't want the children of Konoha to grow up during a war, constantly being aware of the loss of someone's precious people. No I will prevent a war if possible.' Minato thought.

The Kazekage was carefully observing the Hokage. The man was some years his junior but he was one of the most powerful shinobi ever seen. He knew that the Hokage knew of Sunas situation right now but he also knew the man was no fool. He was trying to not upset the balance of power so Suna had a good chance to make some favorable agreement in this new treaty.

"Well Kazekage sama, let's not waste time by beating around the bush. I'm not a great fan of politics and as I know Suna has been victim to some of the more foolish attempts of politicians in wind countries capitol. We have recognized an increase in mission demands from wind country and were surprised. Well, I don't know the reason why your daimyo is doing this to his ninja village as the costs of hiring us or you is nearly the same. But I think we can work out some compromises to settle this problem."

The Kazekage was surprised and somehow glad that Minato wanted to solve the problems amiably. But he was also on guard the whole time.

"I'm quiet interested to hear what you are suggesting Hokage sama" the 'Kazekage said.

"Well, if my information is correct" Minato began thinking 'you would be surprised how much I know Kazekage' "you took several measures to ensure Sunas functionality despite the decreasing funding from your daimyo. One being creating a new jinchuriki for the Ichibi. You don't have to try and deny it, I even know that the jinchuriki is your youngest son Gaara."

Minato smiled at the subtle tries of the Kazekage to keep his indifferent face.

'Oh yes, I will have you squirm' Minato thought. 'Jinchurikis are some of the best kept secrets of a village an me knowing about yours is just the beginning of your humiliation. Thank Kami for Jiraiya senseis abilities at running a spy network. Nothing gets past him for long.'

'How the hell did he find out?' the Kazekage thought furious. 'Our counterespionage devision must be lacking severely if this got out to one of the other kages. At least the Hokage isn't a declared enemy of Suna. But I have to be more careful from now on. Wait, he knew about Gaara and allowed his son to play with him? Even if he had bodyguards to protect the boy, most parents would be weary about having their child around a possible danger. But here Minato Namikaze is sitting totally relaxed.'

"If I may ask a question Hokage sama, if you knew that Gaara is a jinchuriki, why did you allow your son to play with him? Aren't you worried that Gaara might be a danger to Naruto?"

"Why would I? I know that the biju and the host are two separate beings. I am far too intelligent to mix them up. A host is only a danger to those who wrong him or her. And I can ensure that my son has a habit to befriend nearly everybody in a short amount of time. So why would Gaara try to attack Naruto if not provoked? I mean, Suna wouldn't be stupid enough to antagonize a jinchuriki to the point where he gets unstable and releases the power of his demon on them. Only complete idiots would do something like that regarding the power of even the weakest one of the bijus."

Minato smiled innocently while giving his clear message to the Kazekage. _'You fucked up big time and having your son going mad and on a constant killing spree in your village that you are supposed to protect is your fault.'_

The Kazekage definitely understood what Minato was saying and had to keep a cool face while seething innerly. But he had to admit that Suna's constant hateful behavior towards Gaara wasn't helping.

"I mean, a jinchuriki that has strong emotional bonds to his home village will less likely be tempted to act up against the village. That is common knowledge. Even Kumo is understanding this and they aren't the brightest ones around the elemental nations" Minato added.

"But now let's move on to some other business things. I mean, I am sure you let the best sealmasters of Suna create Gaara's seal so your son wouldn't be influenced by the demon. Every father would make sure that his children were protected even if he had to fulfill a duty to his village, right Kazekage sama?" he asked.

Minato was playing masterfully. He only gave jabs in form of things that should be common knowledge or plain logic. But he knew that Suna had ignored plain common sense in case of Gaara ever since the boy had been born. He really loved Jiraiyas spy network.

The Kazekage dumbly nodded. He couldn't retaliate even if he didn't like at all what the blond Hokage hinted at. Which Kage would?

"You are right, we have much to discuss and a banquet to look forward to. I think it would be a good idea to share our ideas for the future of our alliance."

"Of course. Well, as I said we recognized a certain increase of missions from wind country. My suggestion is we make something like a mission pool for our missions and look whose ninjas are suited best to fulfill the missions. I mean think of a mission where a skilled puppeteer would be far better suited than a normal combat specialist due to the fact that the supposed opponent used poison. It would be problematic for Konoha to send a suitable team. But Suna is famous for it's puppeteers."

The Kazekage nodded. That was something he had tried to tell the daimyo but the man had just ignored his arguments.

"And if the mission is in wind country it would be a waste of time to send a team from Konoha due to the distance. Otherwise it would be stupid for your ninjas to take missions in fire country when Konoha is nearer. So I suggest we set up a geographical perimeter. One part is Sunas responsibility, one part is Konohas. And if a mission is requested specifically for one villages ninjas while the other would be nearer we could make this a joint mission so both our villages profit from it. That should take care of most of your financial problems in the future and give our ninjas a better mutual understanding of each other."

"That sound good Hokage sama. In the long run me might even get the daimyo to see that this is far more effective than cutting Sunas fundings. But we still have the problem that we can't train many ninja due to being restricted be the current laws that were enacted" the Kazekage replied.

"Yes and there I want to make a trade. We have established a new educational system at our academy and the results are astounding. Our new generations of genin are far more advanced than they ever were in the past. I would be willing to share the basics of our system for you to implement in Suna so your students could improve more than until now. Than you would have better qualified ninjas. In return I would like to get some wind jutsus from Suna as you are the most knowledgeable village in this respect. As being a wind element myself I'm always interested to learn more about it."

"That could be arranged. It's a fair deal. We get a better training program and you get some rare techniques for your village" the Kazekage agreed.

At the playground Naruto was introducing Gaara to his friends. Naruto didn't hide the fact that Gaara was a jinchuriki too and Gaara was very surprised that the other children didn't hate or fear him. That had never happened before. He always was shunned when somebody found out about Shukaku.

"Why are you all so accepting? I don't understand" Gaara asked.

"Why would we not?" Sai asked.

"I mean Naruto is my best friend and has been it since we were three years old. I knew from the start that he contained the Kyubi and it doesn't matter to me. He is Naruto and not the fox, as you are Gaara and not Shukaku. What is so difficult to understand about this?"

"Sai is right. We all know the difference between a prison and the prisoner. And in Konoha everybody accepts Naruto for keeping Kyubi imprisoned. Why would we treat you different Gaara?" Ino asked.

Gaara felt an unknown warmth inside his stomach. That was a completely new feeling for him. He never had experienced something like this. What was this feeling? And why did he have the feeling he could trust this kids, when he had sworn not to trust anybody again after what Jashamaru did to him? What his own father did? Unbeknownst to him tears began to flow from his eyes.

"Gaara are you all right?" Choji asked.

Gaara looked at him. He was unsure if he was all right. That was all to new for him.

"Gaara it is okay. I understand you. It is hard to grasp being accepted for the first time. But you know, I will always be your friend. We are similar to each other, I was only lucky that my dad returned when I was three and changed my life. We will help you that your life will change as well" Naruto promised.

The others just nodded. They thought Gaara was a nice guy when you got to know him a bit and they understood Narutos desire to help him as they shared the same burden. That was just the way Naruto was, he reached the hearts of those that were around him and helped them to have a better life. That was the reason they all were glad that he was their friend.

Gaara smiled. For the first time in years he showed a small honest smile.


	22. Chapter 22

I am finally back with my story ! Sorry for the long break, but my old laptop did have a problem with keeping power for more than 15 minutes so writing was a problem. It finally broke and I lost the little bits I managed to write and had to do it again :(  
Now I have finally managed to save enough money for a new laptop and am writing again.

I have some more stories planned and one of my new stories is already posted. It's called Forging Destiny and is a Harry Potter story. For more information on the new stories and my Magical Duo Challenge, a Naruto / Harry Potter x-over please read my profile.

I hope you enjoy the story continuing. As always I own nothing of the Naruto-verse.

* * *

**Unexpected Revelations**

Temari and Yugito sat in a restaurant talking about the fashion in both villages, cute boys in Suna and Konoha, the newest gossip, ninjas who were famous in their respective villages and the things the kages probably spoke about. Kankuro, who had caught up to them some time after they had settled in the restaurant was regretting being stuck with two girls. It was better than being forced to spend time with Gaara, with the mental problems his little brother had it was sometimes really dangerous to be around him, but he was a ten year old boy and he hated gossiping girls.

"Well, how is living in Suna generally? I only know it is located somewhere in the desert" Yugito asked.

"It's a harsh life but we become stronger from training under extreme conditions" Temari explained.

"We naturally have different exercises to train chakra control. I have heard you use sticking leaves to parts of your body as an early exercise. Well, we don't have many plants in Suna, only those in the greenhouses which are grown for medicinal purposes. But we have a need to be protected from the burning sun, so our first control exercise is to maintain a constant layer of chakra on our skin to block the sun."

"That makes sense. I can imagine that you work with what you have available. But I have one question I want to know more about. I have recognized that you seem to be somewhat afraid of your younger brother, Gaara. Why is this? I mean he is only the same age as the nuisance Naruto" Yugito wanted to know.

Temari and Kankuro stiffened. They looked at each other uncomfortably.

"It's not that we hate him, he is our brother after all, but he is, he is dangerous" Kankuro admitted.

"How? You have at least two years more training than him and if there was a kekkei genkai in your family that gave him an advantage you would be born with it too."

Yugito knew why they were afraid, the Hokage had informed her about the situation in Suna and had told her to try and get Temari and Kankuro to be more open to Gaara. Naruto would open up Gaara to people in general and she was to make sure Gaara had somebody to rely on when he returned to Suna. If Temari and Kankuro realized that not all jinchuriki were dangerous by interacting with her, they would be more willing to help their little brother.

"It is not a blood line" Temari finally said. "Gaara has … a condition. He is … emotionally not very stable and he … leashes out against anybody who is in his way if he is like that."

Yugito appeared to be thinking hard about this information.

"I understand. So from what I know about Suna's history you haven't learnt from past mistakes regarding jinchuriki. There is no other explanation. This also explains his high chakra levels I felt when we were greeting you at the gates" Yugito stated.

Temari and Kankuro stiffened.

"Really, did you think that Suna was the only village to have a jinchuriki which is mistreated? This is really no new experience. Ignorance is the most typical character trait for those who are not knowledgeable in sealing. We have our own jinchuriki in Konoha and nobody dares to mistreat them. The Hokage would make sure the one to harm them would regret his decision bitterly. And we have no problems with mental instability" Yugito said smugly.

"Really? But we were always told to keep away from Gaara because he couldn't control the Ichibi" Kankuro said getting a disapproving look from Temari for blabbing village secrets.

"The only jinchuriki who are instable are those with shitty seals or those who are driven over the edge by their village. They either desert or go wracking havoc. And it is a pain in the ass to calm down a mad biju" Yugito said.

"How do you know so much about jinchuriki and biju? I didn't know the Konoha academy taught this much about them" Temari asked.

"That's easy. I am one of Konoha's jinchuriki. I was sent here in a treaty between Kumo and Konoha after the Hyuga incident. I have the Nibi inside of me. And I can tell you, Konoha under Yondaime Sama always treated me well. From what I have heard from Bee, the Kumo jinchuriki, they are also changing their ways under the Yondaime Raikage. Do I look that dangerous to you?" Yugito asked grinning.

Temari and Kankuro could only shake their heads. They would never have guessed that Yugito could be a jinchuriki like Gaara. She was so normal.

"Who is Konoha's other jinchuriki? He must have the Kyubi inside of him? How can he control that power?" Kankuro asked.

"Yondaime Sama's son Naruto Namikaze. And I think he hasn't really started training in controlling Kyubi's power. He is still too young for that. I mean he is eight years old. Normally a jinchuriki starts training to access that chakra at twelve or thirteen. You need a body which is somewhat grown to even attempt to control that malevolent chakra. I will begin training to access Nibi's chakra in a year or so. At the moment the only training I receive is contacting Nibi in her seal and starting a good relation with her. But that is not always guaranteed. Some bijus are harder to cooperate with than others."

"Yondaime Hokage Sama sealed the fox in his own son? And he doesn't treat him like a weapon? Gaara was always seen as a faulty weapon in Suna" Temari was surprised.

"Well, from what I heard, it was not always the case. When Naruto was very young, his father hadn't been resurrected and the villagers tried to hurt him. Sandaime Sama tried to protect him but could only do so much with the corrupt council hindering him. It changed when Yondaime Sama came back and took back control. He executed or arrested the corrupt councilors and installed order in the village. He has the backing of the fire daimyo and his heritage only helps with his standing. He is a Senju after all."

"A Senju? Like the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages?" Kankuro asked.

"Yes, his mother is Tsunade Senju of the sannin and his father was Dan Namikaze. So he is the great grandson of the Shodaime. Here in Konoha your ancestors are important for your social standing. It is a bit retarded but it takes time to change old ways. For the ninja ranks it doesn't matter. The most talented ninjas get promoted first and get the higher ranked missions. The academy is sorting really strict. After two years we have the first important test to sort out useless fangirls, slackers or otherwise unmotivated students. They are transferred to one of the civilian schools. After those two years we are sorted by our ranking in the tests which are every six months to see if we have improved or need more work in some areas. Yondaime Sama only wants true ninjas in his ranks. Our mission success rate has multiplied a lot after those changes have been done."

"This sounds really interesting. Perhaps father will agree with Hokage Sama to implement some of those ideas in the ninja training in Suna. What do you think could you show us some of the more interesting sights? I would also like to see how this new mentality is lived in the village" Temari requested.

"Sure. We can start at the academy. I am allowed to show you our outdoor training grounds. Then we can visit the public library, some of the shops and perhaps have a quick stop to look at the clan estates. After that I think our time will be up and you are required to attend the feast in honor of your father's visit here."

"I think that is a good idea Yugito" Temari said and they left the restaurant after paying for their tea and snacks.

* * *

Gaara was having the time of his life. All of Naruto's friends were really nice to him and he was playing with children his age for the first time in his life. This visit to Konoha was the best thing to ever happen to him. He had not known a single one of the games they wanted to play but they had patiently explained how to play them to him and now he was playing hide and seek with Shino being the one to seek the others. Gaara had found a nice hole under some tree roots.

With a little help of his sand he was hid really well and now he waited for Shino to try and find him. They had decided to play the non-ninja version, so that the children who didn't have advantages from their clans' special abilities could have as much fun as the others. Gaara had just used the sand to be able to slip into the hole easier. Gaara stayed really still when Shino came near his hideout. He had already found Choji and Shikamaru. Gaara thought Shino was good at seeking. Luckily Shino passed his hideout.

It took ten more minutes before Shino found Gaara as the second to last one. The last one was actually Naruto who just had an uncanny ability with stealth. But Gaara didn't mind. He had played a game with other children for the first time in his life and it was great. This must be what they called being happy. He just wished he could have this in Suna.

Kiba suggested the next game. He wanted to play a group game. He had a ball and they would try to hit the members of the other group with the ball. If you were hit you had to sit at the sidelines until one member of your own team managed to hit the one who had put you out of the game. It was fun and Gaara ran around with the others getting used to the concept of dodging or catching the ball. As his sand reacted automatically, a hit to the sand counted as a hit on him. After a few tries he managed to stop his sand from reacting when the ball came at him and he could really enjoy the game.

* * *

Kankuro and Temari didn't believe their eyes when they passed a playground near the academy. There was their little brother Gaara playing like any other child, trying to dodge a ball or hitting other children with a thrown ball. And he was smiling. A true smile that was not insane or cruel.

"See? If you treat a jinchuriki like a human being you have nothing to fear from them" Yugito stated.

"If I didn't see it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it. How can this be?" Temari asked shocked.

"While Naruto is an annoying brat he has this surprising ability to reach out to people and make friends with them. As long as the person is not totally rotten, they normally begin liking him, even if they are annoyed by him. I think this is the reason Yondaime Sama asked Naruto to be the one to show Gaara around. He knew of your brother's problems and wanted to help" Yugito explained.

"But I don't understand. If this was such common knowledge, why has everybody in Suna been warned to not interact with Gaara? If it was so easy to ensure that he wouldn't harm anybody, why did nobody make sure Gaara was happy? It would just have needed some explanations that Gaara isn't dangerous or just keeping the knowledge of Shukaku being sealed inside him a secret and nothing of Gaara becoming instable would have happened" Kankuro angrily stated.

"I know Kankuro. I don't understand it either but sometimes adults are just power-hungry idiots. They don't care that they destroy a life with their manipulations as long as they get what they want. I think they wanted a powerful weapon and failed to make a good seal. This is the reason he is not able to completely control the sand and it has a life of its own. Then they discovered that they were unable to control their weapon and tried to dispose of him, making him angry, a fatal mistake. Naruto and I never were in this situation thanks to Yondaime Hokage Sama."

Temari and Kankuro silently vowed to help their little brother out in the future. Perhaps the Yondaime Hokage could repair the messed up seal to help Gaara. If their brother would be able to sleep without concern for the demon getting out, he would probably regain a lot of mental stability. After all, nobody was able to stay sane with insomnia.

* * *

Minato and the Kazekage waited for their children to return to them. Minato hoped his plans were going well. He was sure Naruto's unique personality would be able to reach out to Gaara. And Yugito was very good at pointing out obvious flaws in logic. She would make Temari and Kankuro think. And normally that would be all it would take to get them to stand by Gaara. Now he just needed the opportunity to undo the damage to the seal and improve it and Gaara would become safe, an advantage for Suna and Konoha as well. After all, an indebted ally was less prone to betray you for a better offer.

And Minato could think of several enemies of Konoha who would offer Suna tempting things if they acted against the alliance with Konoha. There were Madara and Orochimaru, Iwa especially disliked him personally, Kumo was still a bit sore about the Hyuga incident that lost them Yugito, one of their two jinchuriki, Kiri was a risk with its still ongoing civil war but most likely not dangerous to Konoha at the moment. So it was wise to prevent Suna from becoming desperate. Minato just could not understand the Daimyo of Wind Country. It was suicidal to believe that a ninja village that was cut off from most of its funding wouldn't do something stupid to save itself.

This was a second reason why he wanted Naruto to form strong bonds with Gaara. A jinchuriki was normally the main weapon of a village in the case of war. If the jinchuriki regarded another jinchuriki higher than his village it was possible that he didn't participate in the war. And Konoha with two residing jinchuriki was in a strong position anyway. While the Shodaime had given away the demons he had controlled to guarantee the balance between the nations, Minato had no illusions that after the last wars, which Konoha had emerged from victorious, his village would be a prime target for the others.

True peace like his sensei hoped and worked for was just not possible if the closed minded interests of politicians were at stake. No only a position of power, true power would ensure that Konoha could keep its way of living. He had been disillusioned by the treatment Naruto had gotten during the three years he had been dead. You needed to be powerful to get people to do what was right. Minato knew he was a dictator. That was something he was often criticized for. But he also knew that there were threats outside that had to be handled the right way. He wouldn't allow for traitors to be left alive. While the will of fire was the heart of Konoha, people like Orochimaru couldn't be left alive if they had committed serious crimes against the village.

Or Madara with his petty agenda against the village. The man had to be stopped before he could put all his pieces into place to start a new ninja war. Danzo and his ROOT spies had been most informative. Danzo had found out that the whole bloodline purge in the land of water was Madara's doing. The Yondaime Mizukage was only a puppet for the old Uchiha. Minato and Danzo had set up a devious plan to use the problems in Water Country to Konoha's advantage. Really, which smart village leader would pass up on the opportunity to get highly trained bloodline wielders? Sometimes whole families from well-known clans who had managed to flee the purges.

Konoha had had a nice growth in its ninja population. It had just taken a few well trained ex ROOT now official ANBUs which were sent to Water Country into the camps of the fugitives and offered the protection of Konoha. As Konoha was known for its love of bloodline wielding clans combined with Minato's own reputation as the strongest living ninja many had come and settled down in Konoha. It had been a boom for Minato's long term projects as he now had some very powerful replacements for ninjas killed by the Kyubi. And the academy gained many highly talented and motivated students. Double profit. The children learned the values of Konoha before they were poisoned with the nonsense Kiri had trained into its older ninjas.

Well, Danzo had a lot of experience how to deal with emotionally dead ninjas. The old warhawk was really valuable. He had dirt about almost every highly placed politician, all of the kages, even him, an information network rivaling Jiraiya's and he had no inhabitations to use the information if necessary. Or give it to Minato for him to use it as he saw fit. You couldn't be a leader without blackmailing your opponents and it was a better and less bloody way than to declare war on them. Not that he wasn't prepared to fight one if anyone was stupid enough to start it. No his elite was highly trained and always ready. Sometimes cold war was necessary. He just hoped he could protect the children of the village from the horrors of war for as long as possible.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello everybody, I am back with the next chapter of the story. Took a bit longer to write because I wanted to include the new seal of Gaara as well as the banquet.**

**Thanks for all the nice reviews. Nice to know that you all are still interested in this story. I can't promise time frames for updates but I will do my best. As you may have read in my profile I also have two more stories planned that I write as well as the new story 'Forging destiny'. **

**I just work on the story I have most ideas for. 'Captured in her eyes' will probably be the first one I post as I have written most of it down on paper, I just have to transfer it to my computer, which can sometimes be a bit dull.**

**So as always I own nothing, I just play with the Naruto-verse.**

**Have fun with this chapter.**

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Banquet and Seal

The Kazekage sat in his suite and was thinking hard about his counterpart in Konoha the Yondaime Hokage. He had never before met the man in person. The three years after the Kyubi attack the Sandaime Hokage had led the village, he really had problems believing that the Yondaime Hokage had been revived due to a lost bet from the death god, which was the official story going around, so he had been the one to see the finals if Konoha genin had qualified. The next two years no participants from Konoha had reached the finals so there was no reason for the Hokage to attend.

The next exams in Kumo had two genin from Konoha in the finals but no Suna genin. During the exams in Konoha which followed next, he had been unable to come to the finals as he had to deal with some internal political problems in Suna and couldn't risk being absent from the village, so he had sent his jonin commander to observe the finals. The Kiri exams had been cancelled due to civil war and the next exams no genin from Suna had been entered at all in Kusa. One of the few times a smaller village had the honor hosting the exams.

Konoha hadn't sent many applicants to the last chunin exams as they were held in Iwa and Konoha just didn't want to risk promising genin if there was no need for it.

The success rates for missions Konoha took were astounding. They had over 90 % perfectly fulfilled missions and the other ten percent normally only were due to lying clients, which meant an upgrading of the mission and the later payment for the more expensive mission without pardon or the stop of said mission if the ninjas who were assigned the mission were not ready to undertake it.

And not many clients risked falsifying their mission applications as it also meant that they would be charged an extra fee to make up for the possible death of ninjas from Konoha. While the Hokage didn't make any compromises with lying clients he was also known to help those who really needed ninja help from Konoha but weren't able to pay the normal prices. If they agreed to pay when they were able to do so or do something that benefited Konoha, he always took the missions. And this policy had been a major reason Konoha was getting so much business. Most of those who couldn't pay the fees had been able to pay in services instead.

A small village at the border to rice country had paid with making exclusive treaties with Konoha for their minerals. The village was near a region where rare minerals could be found but the mines had been subject to a corrupt business man who took all the profit the village normally gained with prospecting the minerals. The Hokage had sent a team of chunin to stop the business man, freed the village from the chokehold of said business man, enabling them to regain their wealth over the period of some years and got an exclusive treaty for the minerals Konoha needed. The people in said village really liked Konoha ninjas and only had to tell the best things about the Hokage who had visited them to sign the new treaty.

The women were totally smitten with the Hokage's son, who had obviously charmed all of them with his winning smile and his down to earth behavior. Hell, the boy had played with the village children while his father was doing business. Only being supervised by an ANBU who was tasked with protecting the boy. He understood intellectually that taking his son to the meeting was another brilliant political move of the Hokage. With his son being just like any other child, he could make the people see him as a normal but very powerful man, who valued his family highly but still understood the normal people.

Having met Minato Namikaze in person for some hours he could better understand why this man on the one hand was feared widely by all those opposing him and on the other hand was loved by those he protected. He didn't want to have this man as his enemy either. So he had resigned to have the Hokage look at Gaara's seal and try to change it so Gaara would be able to be better protected from Shukaku's influence. It would be ill advised to try to oppose this man. If he could just figure out how he got his information. The man didn't need to resort to physical threats, he just used his opponents own dirt and weaknesses and pointed them out without insulting them.

He was a true master at manipulation.

* * *

Naruto and his friends arrived at the Namikaze estate where the feast for the Kazekage would be hosted. Their parents had sent a messenger that they would bring outfits to change into to the estate half an hour before the feast started. It was normal for them that their children would forget time while playing. So it was just easier to take the clothes to the destination where the children would arrive sooner or later, in this case, as Naruto had promised his father to be on time, sooner.

Naruto led his friends into guest rooms where they could wash and change and then went to his room to get ready himself. Gaara had been taken to a room by his father and been given an outfit without commentary. The only thing Gaara didn't understand was when his sister Temari asked him if he needed help to get ready. That had never happened before. He declined her help, trying to be polite. His new friend Naruto had told him that it would be easier to get people to like him if he didn't threaten them all the time. He had agreed it had worked with Naruto's friends who had accepted him and offered their friendship at the end of their playing time. It had been a wonderful experience.

* * *

Naruto sat on his bed, trying to not feel stiff in his formal clothes. He hated to have to dress up. He was a ninja in training, not some dress doll. At the arms they were too wide and at the legs too narrow. Add to that his grandmother's somewhat sadistic pleasure to see him in she called it "cute colors" and he was wearing a light blue outfit in a traditional Japanese style. He had the suspicion that Shizune and Granny had purposely styled his clothes after the kimonos the girls wore to get back at him for his last prank. The denied it but he was sure they had done it.

"I see you also dislike those formal clothes Naruto" he heard his father's voice from the door.

"Yes Dad. It's just so stiff to move in them. I can tolerate the semi-formal ones, the Yukatas are at least somewhat comfortable, but this is just plain crazy. Why do I have to wear them?" Naruto complained.

"As much as we may dislike it, I am not only a ninja but also a politician. I have to give a certain impression to others and you as my son sadly are included in this. Be happy that I normally insist on semi-formal events. I dislike the traditional robe as much as you dislike your kimono. I always doubted the sense in making males wearing kimonos to official events, only females look really good in them, but somebody made those rules, so we have to live with it."

Minato true to his words was wearing the red and white robes of his position contrary to his normal jonin attire with the white cloak with red flames at the bottom. The Hokage hat was resting in his hand. Naruto knew his father didn't wear the hat often as he found it was uncomfortable with his naturally spiky hair.

"Come on, the guests are waiting. And after the official greeting is over you can go meet your friends. I know for certain that the food the caterers prepared for today will have some of your favorites. While we could hardly put ramen on an official banquet, we have variations of rice dishes with fish, meat and vegetables, different little fried snacks, sushi and a lot of other things. That's the part I will enjoy most after the greetings are over. These events are only tolerable because of the food" Minato stated with conviction.

Naruto laughed a bit.

"You are right Dad. Well, let's get the greetings over with so I can at least blend into the background with my friends. By the way, Gaara would really like it if you could fix his seal. He is a nice guy and just needed some friends. He was really happy when we played with the others at the playground."

"I'm glad to hear this Naruto. If the Kazekage agrees and he will if he knows what is best for him, I will do it after the banquet is over. I think it will be eye opening for the Kazekage to see his son behaving like a normal boy just because he found children who wanted to be his friends. He will not risk losing Gaara to Konoha."

"Why would Gaara come to Konoha?" Naruto asked interested.

"Well, think about it. In Suna he is treated badly. Nobody treats him like a human being, they only see the demon. In Konoha he was greeted friendly, found children who weren't afraid of him and played with him. He was happy for the first time in his life. This is a powerful motivation. The only way for Suna to prevent Gaara from running away in the future is making sure he is treated well when he returns. I don't want to provoke a war with Suna over stealing their jinchuriki, that's the reason Yugito was tasked to make Temari and Kankuro see the error in their treatment of Gaara.

We need to maintain a balance between the five great nations and with Kiri being weakened because of the civil war the balance has already swung towards Konoha. I needed to find a way to strengthen at least one village and Suna as our ally was the best option. But as Suna is in a problematical situation because their daimyo is cutting their funds, no doubt some corrupt and stupid advisors thought that one up, they would have become desperate very soon."

"I see. By giving them a helping hand, they are indebted to Konoha. They can keep their strength and even gain more by taking over our training system. And in case one of the other great villages thinks to do something that would be bad for Konoha, we could easily stop them with Suna at our side."

"Very good Naruto. Politics passed" Minato said grinning.

Naruto beamed at his father.

* * *

The banquet went really well. After 45 minutes of torture for Naruto when he was forced to politely greet all the guests of his father, he could finally get away from the adults and join the children. He and his friends soon began telling Gaara, Temari and Kankuro stories about other boring parties they had to attend as they were the heirs of their clans. Temari and Kankuro also told some stories about stuck up politicians they had met while accompanying their father to important events. Gaara had mostly been left at home to prevent international incidents.

It was quite an educational evening for Gaara. He learned how to keep a plain face and not give into the urge to kill some stupid adults that completely annoyed him, how to get them back with pranks when nobody looked at him, about the godsend a deck of cards could be, like those Shikamaru had smuggled into the room and how nice certain food tasted. It was really an advantage that the banquet was held in form of a buffet where everybody could take what they wanted.

If something was out, Naruto always knew how to get more. And where to go if you ate too much as Kiba found out when he thought he could keep up with Choji in a food eating contest they had spontaneously started. Naruto just got Shizune to help Kiba and she told Kiba off for being stupid about trying to out eat an Akimichi.

Finally the guest started leaving and Naruto and Gaara were taken to the side by Tsunade who told them that their fathers wanted to see them in an hour after Minato had bidden everybody goodbye. Naruto was just glad that he didn't have to participate in this. He led Gaara up to his room and showed him some of his favorite toys, books and the fantastic view he had over the ground of the Namikaze estate from his window.

* * *

Minato was glad that he now was done with this feast for the Kazekage. He just had to speak with the man about the seal of Gaara. He had the feeling that the Kazekage had realized that he didn't really have a choice in this. After all you didn't become a kage while being stupid. He approached the waiting Kazekage and invited him into his private study.

"Kazekage Sama, I have told my mother Tsunade to tell Naruto and Gaara to meet us in my study in ten minutes. We should probably discuss the details of the seal before they come down" Minato said.

"Very well Hokage Sama. I have come to the conclusion that a functioning seal would be most beneficial for the interests of Suna and if you are able to repair the flaws the seal seems to have, I would be really grateful if you would do us the favor."

"Certainly Kazekage Sama. Please follow me. I have some good sake stored in my study that I have hidden from my mother. Otherwise she would have taken it for herself. While she is one of the strongest kunoichi of all times she still hasn't gotten over her bad drinking habits. But I have to admit days here would be more boring if Shizune wouldn't try to get her away from drinking so often" Minato lightly laughed.

The Kazekage knew that this was a tactic to create a light atmosphere without giving up valuable information. It was well known that the slug princess had a more than small addiction to alcoholics. It never influenced her work at the hospital but when she was out of the hospital she let herself somewhat go. Mostly in company of the toad sage. Well they were old teammates after all. So telling him about a humorous episode was a smart move to make it clear that the Hokage didn't want to discuss things in strained atmosphere.

"Don't we all have our little sinful pleasures? I am sure every ninja who has made it to the top has a quirk others might find disturbing" the Kazekage answered.

Both men shuddered suddenly without knowing the reason.

Meanwhile on one of Konoha's training grounds a freshly promoted jonin in a green spandex suit was shouting 'YOUTH!' at the top of his lungs, scaring the local wildlife away.

* * *

Gaara and Naruto entered the study on time. Minato and the Kazekage looked at them with determined looks.

"Gaara, your father has asked me to have a look at your seal and if possible to improve it so you will be able to have better control over Shukaku and be able to sleep" Minato explained with a kind voice.

"Thank you Hokage Sama" Gaara answered.

Naruto smiled. This was earlier than they had thought it would happen. Obviously the Kazekage didn't want to have his father opposing him. And Suna could only gain from doing this, even if they had to take a hit to their pride in acknowledging that they were inferior to Konoha in the art of fuinjutsu.

"Let's begin right away. I have a special room in the basement which walls are specially seal enforced so we won't have problems with Shukaku's chakra trying to prevent the new seal" Minato explained.

"Will the enforcement be strong enough to deal with Shukaku?" the Kazekage asked.

"It is able to keep Kyubi under control if necessary. That was the main reason I built it. I don't take any risks with the safety of my son so I needed a room where I could inspect the seal which imprisons the fox safely. And I can tell you the fox is trying to get back at me for sealing it again. Nasty temper that one has" he added.

Naruto giggled. His father was right. Kyubi was not at all happy to be sealed away again. And he even more hated that the seal his father had designed was slowly draining it of all his chakra. Contrary to previous jinchuriki of Kyubi Naruto would have all the power of the fox at his command when he turned twenty and the fox would cease to exist. He would still have to learn how to control this much power but it was different from other jinchuriki which had to learn to control demon chakra. He would just have a really high amount of chakra but thankfully this was a common occurrence in the Senju, Namikaze and Uzumaki clans so they had developed special chakra control exercises.

They were meant to show children from a young age how to work with high levels of chakra. While normal children had to learn how to tap into small reserves and conserve them, he had to learn how to not throw around chakra like it was candy. So the chakra control exercises needed went from two directions. Normal children from bottom to top, for Naruto it was from top to bottom and he couldn't stop doing the exercises for long. He needed to constantly practice or he would lose his abilities. That was the downside in getting the Kyubi's chakra on top of his own.

While following his father to the basement Naruto observed the reactions of the Kazekage to this announcement. He was relatively sure that the man only grudgingly agreed to improve Gaara's seal. Well, if Suna hadn't stopped producing good sealmasters some forty years ago, they wouldn't be in this mess. From his history lessons Naruto knew that Suna had once been one of the leading villages in the art of fuinjutsu. But they had stopped learning after reaching the top spot. Only Sasori of the Red Sand, one of the most accomplished puppet users of Suna in history had still done research. But he had disappeared and become a missing nin. Taking with him his expertise.

Minato led Gaara to the spot in the middle of the room where seal arrays surrounded everything. Gaara followed Minato's instructions to take of his shirt and lie down. Then the sand suddenly acted out only to fall down when Minato pushed his chakra into the seals in the room to activate them.

"Where is the seal located Kazekage Sama?" Minato asked.

"His back" the Kazekage answered.

Gaara was instructed to turn onto his stomach so that Minato could reach the seal better. When Gaara was ready, Minato pushed some of his chakra into his hand to make the seal appear. He didn't want to risk having Gaara to try and call upon his chakra as long as it was so intertwined with Shukaku's. He soon saw the compete seal and wanted to shout at the Kazekage for allowing something like that to be used to seal a demon of biju class. This would only keep a normal class three demon under control, not a biju which was at least class seven for the weaker ones like Shukaku.

"Kazekage Sama, I advise you to put some of your brightest subordinates to learn as much as they can about fuinjutsu. It seems that over time a lot of the knowledge about this art has been lost to your village. While the execution of the seal in itself speaks of a highly capable user, the kind of seal is wrong for a demon of biju class. This is a perfect level three demon imprisoning seal. Sadly bijus start at level seven and go up to level fifteen for the Kyubi. I will be able to push the level of the seal up to eight so that Shukaku, who is a level seven demon, won't be able to influence Gaara anymore. If you had left this seal like it is, Gaara would have had to fight with Shukaku over control every wake moment of the day in only a year's time" Minato explained.

'Great, just because Suna was too stupid to realize that they needed to keep up with the developments in fuinjutsu I had to suffer from this mess' Gaara thought angrily.

'I have a real problem' the Kazekage realized. 'Because Chiyo is unhappy with the ways Suna has been led in the past years she has refused to teach any of our talented ninjas her abilities. The only aspiring puppeteer who could be able to reach her level over time is Kankuro. But he has the ambition to even surpass Sasori so he is studying the art on his own from scrolls Sasori left in Suna before he deserted. And now I need fuinjutsu specialists to ensure that we won't be in this situation again in the future. I can just be glad that Chiyo did a perfect job with the seal she was told to use. I wonder if she knew it was too weak. But then again Chiyo is no seal master, just really good at implementing them.'

Naruto interestedly watched the build of the seal. He could identify the different parts from which it was made but he also spotted something he had never before seen.

"Dad, what is the part in the filter section in the top right part of the seal?" he asked, shocking the Kazekage with his knowledge about seal construction.

"I am trying to find out myself. This is not part of the normal seal. It looks like somebody tried to build a gate for easier access to the Shukaku from outside. But this would totally go against the supposed job of the seal. No shinobi village wants that outsiders have access to the biju they possess. This would allow such a success. If I had to guess I would say somebody in Suna was working with somebody outside the village and sabotaged the seal for whatever purpose they have. I just don't understand how this would have been overlooked by the security. Sealing of bijus is S ranked and only the utmost loyal ninjas of a village are part of it. I can't imagine somebody so high up would be a traitor and not be spotted."

"You are right. I constantly check for the loyalty of my subordinates, especially those in important positions. I would have noticed a traitor. But I will look into this more closely" the Kazekage said.

It irked him that somebody had managed something like this and that they hadn't found out until now. This could have easily been the downfall of Suna if somebody tore the Ichibi from Gaara and let it run rampant in Suna. Wait a moment, the Hokage had said that he had to seal the Kyubi again. Was this what had happened eight years ago? Had somebody managed to tear the Kyubi from its former jinchuriki and let it go on a rampage in the village? It would make sense after all the Shodai Hokage had been the one to give the bijus to the other villages to keep balance. Only a fool would give away the strongest one. It would after all ensure the safety against the other ones.

He was torn from his thoughts when the Hokage asked his son to bring him different tools to begin the improvement of the seal. He really had to get more seal experts for Suna. That nobody had seen that Gaara's seal was way too weak for a biju was an inexcusable failure. The security of Suna was at stake. If he was honest with himself, the village had already suffered for this. Since Jashamaru's failed assassination attempt Gaara had taken to kill all the assassins. He had lost many good ninjas this way.

* * *

Minato barely managed to hide his disgust for the Kazekage. That man only thought about his own power and how he could increase it. While he also did many things to assure that Konoha was really strong, stronger than any other village would ever know in fact, he had limits how far he would go for it. He knew that being Hokage he sometimes had to take risks that could lead to the death of his ninjas. But he always tried to minimize those risks as much as possible. The Kazekage meanwhile was just a careless power-hungry moron who had played with power he didn't understand.

And if something didn't go according to plan he just tried to destroy it instead of fixing it. It would be a delicate affair to deal with this fool as the leader of Suna but hopefully he would grow a brain and build a base on which Suna could properly work. Minato had plans that went far into the future. He knew from his fight with Madara when the Kyubi was ripped out of Kushina that the man had a bigger plan. One he didn't know enough about to stop it right now. But he could try to prepare for all eventualities.

From Jiraiya, who managed the spy-network in Suna Minato knew that Suna had no really strong ninjas who could succeed the current Kazekage without weakening the village immensely. As long as the man didn't work against Konoha, he could be allowed to stay in the top position. Minato had an eye for talent and in Gaara he could see a lot of it. If everything went well, Gaara could become his father's successor in perhaps ten years. He knew Gaara was the strongest of all the children living in Suna and with the support of his siblings he could go far.

He had observed Temari and Kankuro during the banquet and had seen that they seemed to be changing their views of Gaara. He would have to continue his observations but it was a good sign. He knew he couldn't take Gaara in at Konoha. It would harm him in the long run. He needed Gaara in Suna to take over after this father retired or died, whatever happened sooner. And to keep Gaara in Suna, becoming strong and respected there, he needed backup. Backup that could keep up with him and both Temari and Kankuro were extremely talented in their chosen fields of expertise. Those three could become an unstoppable force in the future. But only if they trusted each other.

Naruto helped his father by giving the acquired tools to change the seal to be stronger and able to keep the Shukaku under control. He also closely observed what his father did with the seal to upgrade it to level eight as he had said he would do. He added a lot of kanji, lines, symbols and he thought he recognized some old runes as well. Then Minato thoroughly checked every part of the sealing array he had added to be absolutely sure that he hadn't made a mistake but found everything to be perfect.

"Alright the array is finished. I now need to do the actual sealing. Naruto please go outside. I don't want the Shukaku try and contact the Kyubi. I don't know what would happen if the two would combine their powers to try and break free" Minato said.

Naruto nodded and left the room. His father always had a good reason for his instructions. As Naruto closed the door behind him, Minato motioned the Kazekage to a safe spot outside the array and began with a string of handseals to compete the sealing.

* * *

Gaara felt pain like never before racing through his body. The Shukaku was screeching and he got a major headache because of it but then suddenly the pain and the screeching ended. He felt drained but better than ever before at the same time. He wondered what the difference was, then he realized that for the first time in years he couldn't hear the Ichibi inside of his head.

"It's quiet. For the first time it's quiet" he whispered.

Minato silently inspected the new seal and content with the result nodded his head.

"Kazekage Sama, the new seal is working perfectly. Gaara will now be free of the influence of the demon but still be able to use the special sand powers the Ichibi grants its vessel. Gaara will need some time to really learn how to control them but from now on the powers he got from his biju will act more like a bloodline which he has to train to use at full potential" Minato stated.

"This is really good. Thank you very much for your help Hokage Sama. Suna is in your debt. I think I will take Gaara back to the hotel now so he can rest after the draining procedure. I will see you tomorrow morning. Good bye Hokage Sama" he said politely.

"It was my pleasure to help Kazekage Sama. Until tomorrow morning.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi fans :)**

**I have decided to follow some requests or quetions of some reviewers with this interlude as I have to think up the next chapter for the story. But this little idea came up in my mind and I hope it will get you over the little break until I continue the main story line.**

**This is a little side story to 'Results of a poker night' I thought of while reading some of the reviews I got. Some people asked me if Kushina would be resurrected or if Aohoshi would have another appearance. I decided to please both requests somewhat with this little interlude. It is when Naruto is eight years old before the evaluation test at the academy on Minato's birthday.**

**As always I own nothing, but I wish I did. Have fun reading.**

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* * *

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Special interlude Minato's birthday

Naruto sat in his normal seal at the academy trying to listen to his sensei. But today he had some problems to keep his attention at his sensei. In two days was his dad's birthday and he still hadn't found a good present for him. It was really difficult as his dad had already everything related to ninjas which other children gave their parents who were ninjas. A clear disadvantage of being the son of the Hokage. It was just so hard to find a good present for a man who had nearly everything he wanted.

'Come on Naruto think. What could Dad want for his birthday? I am way too old to just draw or create something for him. It would just be childish. That worked when I was six but not at eight. I am not that good of a cook that I could surprise him with a self-cooked meal without setting the kitchen on fire. That would kind of go against the purpose of a present. While I could make some firework I already know that the specialists in the village will do that for his celebration. All I could come up with would pale to what the professionals could do. What could I give him?' Naruto thought.

When the bell rang, Naruto left the classroom to go home and think more about this. Perhaps he could ask and observe his dad to find out what he wanted. That was not that bad of an idea. Happy with his decision he ran home.

* * *

Minato sat in his favorite armchair in his living room. He looked at the clock at the wall. Naruto would be home soon, the academy had left out perhaps five minutes ago. He thought how much he had achieved in the last five years since he had been resurrected. He was really happy to be able to raise his son but he also missed Kushina. He just wished she could be with him now. She would be so proud of their son. Naruto was growing into a fine boy and would be a good man when he became an adult. He combined the best of both of them.

He looked at the picture of his late wife that was placed at the wall above the fireplace that was more for decoration than heating the room since it was rarely cold enough in Konoha to use it. But it let the room look homely. Soon he heard the door, an unmistakable sign that his son was home.

Naruto came into the living room finding his father in his favorite armchair.

"Hi Dad how was your day?" he asked smiling.

"It was good Naruto. Did you have a good time at the academy?" Minato answered and asked his son.

"Yes it was okay. We only had theory today as we are starting on some revision for the evaluation. I knew nearly everything so it was a bit boring."

"Better it was boring for you than that you would be caught by surprise during the exams."

"I know Dad, a ninja is always prepared and gathers as much information for a mission as possible. Don't worry I have learned continually and only need to read up on some details for the exam. I will make you proud of me" Naruto said determined.

Minato smiled. This was just typically Naruto. He always wanted for him to be proud of him. Well he was. He was not above bragging about his son during the meetings with the other clan heads. After all they did the same with their sons and daughters. It was just something parents did.

"I know you will Naruto. I look forward to see your results. By the way, could it be that Sai has gotten a lot better at drawing mice?" Minato asked innocently.

Naruto looked at his father with a slight surprised look.

'Damn, how did he figure it out this fast?' he asked himself, trying to keep a calm outlook on his face.

"What are you talking about? I know Sai is getting special training from Danzo sensei to use ink based jutsu, so it could be he is getting better at drawing, perhaps he draws mice for practice but why do you ask?"

'I have to give it to him, he is getting better at keeping a poker face' Minato thought.

"Oh nothing special, I just heard from Shizune that there have been a lot of sightings of black mice in the village. The Inuzuka dogs have gone wild and tried to hunt them down, the nurses at the hospital have been scared by them and even Hiashi is annoyed with having them looking over his shoulder while eating. You don't think this wouldn't draw my attention? I am just curious."

"And what does this have to do with Sai's drawing progress? I mean, I can understand if mice were looking at Hiashi's food, they probably wanted some. I have heard some squirrels make plans to infiltrate the Hyuga compound to sneak into the candy storage and nick some of the nut-based chocolates. If squirrels want to go for it, then mice are not so unbelievable. But I would have thought they would be more subtle about it" Naruto said trying to distract his father with his ability to understand animals.

"Well, normally I would agree with you. Mice always try to get more food and from the dinners we had at the Hyuga compound we both know how good the chefs there are. By the way I will have to tell Hiashi to look out for squirrels. I don't think the Hyuga will like having their candy stolen. They are really pesky about their candy. You wouldn't believe that the members of this stoic clan had such sweet teeth. But the problem in your theory is that Hiashi became so annoyed that he hit one mouse with a juuken strike and it dissolved into ink. This is a bit suspicious and points towards your friend Sai."

'Damned Hiashi. Why does he have to hit poor innocent mice with juuken?' Naruto frowned.

"Well?" Minato continued to look into his son's eyes.

"Okay, we wanted to test the abilities of Sai's new jutsu and each of our group told him a target and he had to try to infiltrate it to get information or breach security a bit to cause a little stir" Naruto admitted pouting.

He really hated how his father could make him spill his secrets. It was just impossible to look into his eyes and lie to him. He knew this well.

Minato grinned triumphantly.

"So I guess the Inuzuka was meant to cause a stir as well as the hospital" he deduced.

"Yes, the Inuzuka was Mai's target as Kiba has horribly annoyed her, the hospital was my idea granny was much too tense and needed a distraction. Hinata just wanted to annoy her father a bit as he always has members of the clan look over her shoulder when she trains and she wanted that he experienced the same. Sasuke wanted to target the base of his fan club to know what they have planned for the next weeks so he can prepare, Ino asked for a stir in the changing rooms which Sai hasn't gotten to yet and Mai also told him to get information on when the new swords Jushio is developing at the moment are going to be sold. She can't wait to get one."

"So all in all it was a successful test" Minato concluded.

Naruto nodded.

"Well, I hope you are ready for the retaliation your grandmother and Shizune will think up. They were not so pleased with the chaos the mice caused at the hospital. But as you didn't cause any damage I will not punish any of you."

Minato smirked. He could always enjoy a prank that didn't hurt anybody.

"Thanks dad. By the way, is there anything you want for your birthday? I want to give you something you really want. But it is hard to find something."

"This is nice of you Naruto but the best present I have ever got is being able to see you grow up. I thought when I sealed the Kyubi and sacrificed my life that I would never be able to do so. The only thing to make this better would be to have your mother back with us but I know this is impossible. I will see her when I die, but I will try my best that it will be a long time from now."

Naruto climbed onto his father's lap and hugged him.

"I understand dad. I would also like to have her back with us but I am really, really happy to have you" he said.

* * *

That night Naruto looked up to the stars. He thought about all the stories his dad had told him about how he was resurrected because Shinigami Sama had lost a bet with Aohoshi, his guardian angel.

"I don't know if you can hear me Aohoshi. Dad told me you are my guardian angel and you gave me the best present ever when you won the poker game against Shinigami Sama and won my dad's life. I am really grateful for that. If I could ask you a favor, could you get Shinigami Sama to let my mom visit us for Dad's birthday? It would mean the world to him and me. I would really like to meet her. I know this is a really big wish. But I really wish to make my dad happy. He has done so much for me. Please Aohoshi, could you ask Shinigami Sama?"

Naruto looked at the stars for a while until he decided to go to sleep.

* * *

While Naruto sat at his bed looking up to the stars speaking with his guardian angel, said angel heard his wish while sitting in Kami's living room drinking tea and eating cookies.

"Has one of your protégées called you Aohoshi?" Kami asked kindly.

"Yes Kami Sama. It is Naruto Namikaze. He has asked me if I could ask Shinigami Sama if he would allow Kushina to visit them for Minato's birthday the day after tomorrow. He wants to make his father happy and obviously Minato misses Kushina. And Naruto would love to meet his mother even if only for a day."

"Hm I like the idea. And as Kushina isn't in Shini's area of responsibility I can make the decision. Shini only has the souls of those who made contracts with him or are sent through punishment. The pure souls are mine to oversee until they are ready to be reborn. I think Minato and Naruto have earned themselves this favor. And it will only be for one day so no laws of balance are endangered. Alright I will get Kushina ready to go on a one day vacation in Konoha. You will pass a message to Naruto that his wish will be granted" Kami ordered.

"Yes Kami Sama" Aohoshi answered and disappeared in a flash of white light.

* * *

Aohoshi arrived in Naruto's room and saw the boy sleeping peacefully. She smiled at her little protégée.

"I hope you will enjoy the present as much as your father Naruto" she whispered while putting a silver envelope with a wing mark on his desk.

"Sweet dreams little prince. You are well on your way to become strong enough to one day protect this world from destruction. I am proud to be your guardian angel."

With this she disappeared again in the flash of white light.

* * *

When Naruto woke up in the morning he had a strange feeling. He couldn't really tell what it was but something was different. He decided to think more about it when he was more awake. He traipsed into his bathroom, stripped of his pajamas, turned the shower on and waited until the water was warm. Then he took a shower and used the time to also brush his teeth. Naruto just thought it stupid to separate the two actions in the morning. When he was finished, he went back to his bedroom and began putting on clothes. As he didn't have academy today due to the teachers having to prepare for the upcoming evaluation exams, they had been given the day of. The exams would be in two weeks and to make preparations easier they had Fridays off to concentrate on individual training.

The clans especially insisted on having these days to prepare their children for the exams. It had become a matter of clan prestige that the children did well on them. Naruto was confident that he would easily pass the evaluation. He trained regularly, studied hard and practiced his techniques. While they hadn't been taught any jutsus at the academy yet, his father had set up the rule that no student was to learn ninjutsu before he or she passed the first evaluation, he had learned some jutsu from his grandmother, his father, Kakashi and Shizune. Of course Danzo sensei had also given him a jutsu for exceptional success in his training.

While Sai and the other orphans from Danzo's orphanage were his main students, Naruto trained regularly with them and therefore also got the presents Danzo gave to all his students for really good achievements. Sai's ink jutsus were results of his progress. Naruto thought it was a good concept. Many said Danzo sensei was too hard on his students but Naruto thought otherwise. True Danzo sensei was very strict and tolerated no disturbance of his training but he knew how far he could push a student. He never went beyond what somebody could do and he gave hints how to improve in training.

They all wanted to become ninja. Ninja led a hard life. It wasn't all glory and adventure as many of the civilians who had signed up for the academy thought. Naruto knew from his family's history what being a ninja, a shadow who protected his village and country could cost you. His great-great-grandfather Hashirama Senju had died after the fight with Madara Uchiha, his great-great-granduncle Tobirama Senju to protect his team and his village to take down a powerful enemy. His grandfather during a mission with his grandmother. His father and mother to seal Kyubi away again. Thankfully he had his dad back. He didn't know what would have happened with him otherwise. Probably the village would still hate him because they didn't understand the difference between prison and prisoner.

He was the third one with Uzumaki blood who sacrificed his normal life to imprison the fox. Yes his family knew what sacrifices as a ninja meant.

Well, as he was free to do what he wanted until two in the afternoon when Shizune would come for his training, he thought about what he could do. He didn't want to learn right now. Well, breakfast first, he could think about everything else while he ate. When he went to his door, he finally saw the silver envelope on his desk. Curious what this would be, he took the letter and looked at it from all sides. It only had his name on it.

Well, it couldn't be dangerous as his home was under constant ANBU surveillance as it was the residence of the Hokage. No intruder would have gotten past them to deposit a dangerous letter on his desk. But who left the letter for him?

Naruto carefully opened the letter and took a single sheet of gold paper out of the envelope. He unfolded it and began reading.

_Dear Naruto,_

_It was nice to hear from you and even nicer to know that you are happy about having your father back. It is nice to have your deeds appreciated by your protégées._

_I have heard your wish and discussed it with Kami Sama. While your father was under the rule of Shinigami Sama due to the contract he made to seal Kyubi in you, your mother is under the rule of Kami Sama. She has agreed to allow Kushina to come to visit you and your father on his birthday tomorrow._

_We will send her down to you at six in the morning and she can stay for twenty-four hours. Then she will just come back to Kami Sama's sphere. _

_I hope you are happy about this Naruto._

_I wish you a wonderful day tomorrow._

_Your guardian angel Aohoshi_

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. His guardian angel had really heard his wish and it was granted. He would meet his mother. He and his dad would get a whole day with his mother. An immense feeling of happiness spread through his body. He began jumping up and down in joy.

"Mum will come to visit" he happily shouted over and over again.

Then he thought how he should tell his dad. Normally he would keep the visit of his mother a secret to surprise him but as there were many people who would use any opportunity to hurt his dad or try to assassinate him he could hardly do this. His dad would probably think that his mother was an imposter sent to assassinate him and attack her. This was not what he wanted. So it would probably be best if he told his dad that she would come at six so he was prepared.

Perhaps he could just say that a surprise visitor came? No, he would just believe in the imposter theory again. Well, it would have been better if he could have kept this a secret to surprise his father but he didn't want his parents to fight because of a misunderstanding. He had after all witnessed how one imposter had been dealt with one time. That time they had tried to impersonate Kakashi. Too bad that Kakashi had sent Pakkun to inform his father that he would need another day to return from his mission.

It had been short and effective and absolutely painful for the assassin. He was just left alive so that Ibiki could find out who had sent him. Needless to say that the employer somehow had an unfortunate accident three days later.

Now Naruto just needed to plan when he told his dad. Perhaps at midnight? Then it would be a real birthday surprise. But he normally wasn't allowed to stay up for so long. And with the fireworks planned on his dad's birthday which he really wanted to see, it would be bad to stay up too long. Well, he would find an opportunity. It would be sometime late afternoon or early evening as his dad would be working until then. Hopefully no overachieving bureaucrat would come up with something to take up his dad's time. Sometimes newbies had this tick.

Naruto content with his plan of action took out some of his academy scrolls and began reading over some details he thought he could be quizzed about.

* * *

It was half past six and his dad still hadn't come home. Naruto was irritated. Just the day he wanted his dad home on time because he had to tell him something important he was held up at the tower. Somebody had to hate him. He was sure of it. After all it would probably take him some time to explain everything and to get his dad to believe him. Naruto decided to pass time with watching a movie on TV. He just hoped his dad would hurry and come home.

* * *

When Minato came home at ten he was slightly irritated with his underlings. Why did they have to keep him in his office for so long today? He had made sure to impress upon them that he didn't need to see all the crap the councilors thought were important for him to see. He just didn't understand how some people always seemed to fall back to the bad habits of the Sandaime's reign after his death. He had changed the processing, there were specially trained office ninjas to deal with all the civilian and normal ninja paperwork. He didn't need to see the reports on D rank missions the academy students did. He didn't need to see the stats of the food imports.

He just needed to be informed if there were anomalies that indicated that something was amiss. Sighing he took of his cape and walked into the living room. Naruto was surely already asleep. It was one and a half hours after his normal bedtime after all. He regretted to not have seen his son today. He would make up for it tomorrow. He had no appointments for the whole day except for the fireworks and the feast in the evening that were planned in his honor.

When he entered the room, he found his son sleeping in front of the TV. He smiled. Obviously Naruto had waited for him and had fallen asleep. Carefully he turned the TV off and lifted his son from the couch. Naruto mumbled something but he didn't form understandable words. Minato carried Naruto up to his room and tucked his son under the blankets. He kissed him on the forehead and then quietly left the room. He decided to turn in early today as he knew that tomorrow he would have to be awake when his son would take all of his energy. After all, the boy always wanted to be active when possible. This was taxing for the father.

* * *

Aohoshi smiled at Kushina who stood next to her, a bright smile on her own face while thinking that she would be able to see her husband and son again for the first time in eight years.

**Evil author technique cliffhanger! More will come soon. ;)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello everybody. I know I am evil with my last cliffhanger at the end of the chapter. But I regret nothing! (Evil grin)**

**Here is the next part of the interlude. As always I own nothing of the Naruto verse. If I did, Naruto would have a bigger part in the last chapters.**

**Have fun reading.**

* * *

**Interlude Part II Minato's Birthday**

Naruto awoke in his bed at six o'clock wondering how he got there. When he realized what the time meant, he sprung out of his bed and ran downstairs. Why did he fall asleep in front of the TV? Now he had to find a way to tell his dad that his mother would be here for his birthday. Oh he wished he could have told him yesterday. It would have made things so much easier. Now he would have to prevent a fight.

Naruto was greeted in the living room with a bright white light. He shielded his eyes against it with his hand and when he took his hand down, he saw two beautiful women standing side by side. One had dark brown long hair, sparkling green eyes and a blue star on her forehead. The other one had dark red long hair, violet eyes and wore a dark blue sleeveless dress over a white shirt. Harry recognized the second woman at once.

How often had he looked at her picture longingly, whishing she would be alive? And now she was here.

"Mom?" Naruto asked timidly.

"Naruto? Is that you?" she answered.

He nodded. Then she smiled brightly. She walked over to him and embraced him.

"My wonderful boy, you have grown so much since I last met you. I love you so much. I can't tell you how much" she told him.

Naruto began to silently cry tears of happiness. He had always wanted to be held by his mother. Then he remembered.

"Mom, I wanted to tell Dad yesterday that you would come to visit today but he was so late I fell asleep. I am afraid that he won't believe it that you are real and not an imposter" Naruto babbled.

"I know Naruto. I have watched over you and your dad the whole time. And I think I can easily convince him that I am who I look like. Trust me, I know your father very well."

She lifted Naruto from the floor and turned to Aohoshi.

"Thanks for the lift Hoshi. I will see you tomorrow. Please make sure Shini-Sama loses the next game, you know what the price is."

"Hey, I am not known for my devil's luck at gambling for nothing Kushi. After all, I was the one who won your husband's freedom from Shinigami Sama" Aohoshi commented.

"Thank you very much for that Aohoshi" Naruto said.

"No problem Naruto. I am not your guardian angel for nothing. I have to look out for you and your father was the only one who could have protected you and got those fools straited out. I wish you and your family a nice day, give Minato my best wishes for his birthday will you Kushi?"

"Sure Hoshi. Bye" Kushina said and Aohoshi disappeared with the white light she and Kushina had come with.

"So what do you think your dad would like for his birthday breakfast?" Kushina asked Naruto.

"Hm, he always raves about the muffins you made for him for your first date so I would think he would like some of them. He also likes cherries and strawberries. "

"You are right. Do you want to help me?" she asked and got a fervent nod from her son.

Kushina looked in the fridge and to her delight there were cherries and strawberries stored. She would never understand why Minato stored all kinds of fruits in the fridge, she thought bananas and cherries for example didn't belong there but this was Minato. She also found some whip cream which would be great for decorating the muffins with the fruits.

While Kushina was making the dough for the muffins she told Naruto to wash and cut the strawberries. He happily set to work, every now and then placing one of the sweet fruits into his mouth.

* * *

At half past seven Naruto and Kushina were finished with their preparations of breakfast and decided to wake Minato. Naruto was still unsure how he would react to Kushina but hoped his mother knew what she did.

"Alright Naruto, just leave everything to me" she said winking at him.

Naruto nodded and let Kushina go into the room first. Kushina smiled at seeing a photo of her on Minato's nightstand. It spoke of the true love they had shared while they were both alive. Kushina sat down next to Minato and softly caressed Minato's hair which he had passed on to Naruto. Minato moved slightly in his sleep. He must have been really tired yesterday that he hadn't woken up from the contact yet.

Finally Minato's eyes opened. He first didn't seem to realize that he was awake as he surely thought seeing Kushina next to him had to be a dream.

"Good morning love. You should get out of bed, our son and I have made breakfast for you. Happy Birthday Min" she said kissing him on the lips before his eyes shot open and he reacted with the speed he was famous for and turned her on her back with her arms pinned over her head.

"How dare you impersonate her?" he seethed.

"Well, as much as I like this position Min, just listen. When we were sixteen I was kidnapped by Kumo nins, you were the one who found me following the trail of my hair I left behind. You told me you thought my red hair that everybody teased me with and which I hated therefore was beautiful. That was when I fell in love with you. I was the jinchuriki of Kyubi before Madara tore it out of me just minutes after Naruto was born. I offered to reseal Kyubi in me and drag it with me but you said the world needed a power against Madara and decided that you would seal Kyubi in Naruto together with part of my chakra so he could meet me when he got older. I am no imposter Min. I am practically your birthday present.

Naruto asked his guardian angel Aohoshi if I could visit you for your birthday. As it is only one day Kami Sama allowed it and here I am. By the way, if you had come back earlier yesterday, Naruto would have told you, that was the reason he tried staying up waiting for you. Do you believe me now?" she asked looking into his eyes.

"Kushi?" he asked still not really believing it.

"No the Easter bunny" she answered sarcastically.

"Come on Min, who else could know all of this? Nobody. Get out of you funk and kiss me or I will have to tell our son the story from when you were eleven and …" she didn't get to go on because Minato used the best known method to shut his wife up and kissed her passionately.

Kushina gladly returned the kiss. She had waited too long to pass up on this opportunity. Naruto seeing his parents kiss scrunched up his face. He couldn't really understand the concept of kissing being nice. But if his parents liked it he wouldn't disturb them. He decided to return to the kitchen. Quietly he left his father's bedroom and walked down the stairs. He took the bottle with the orange juice and poured himself a glass full. It couldn't hurt to drink some until his parents came down.

Minato didn't know what to think but he would just enjoy this. Even if it was a dream, it was the best dream he had had in a long time. But it felt so real. Could he dare to believe he had his beloved wife back for one day? Or would it hurt too much if he found out that it wasn't real.

"I am really here Min. Dattebane!" Kushina whispered huskily in Minato's ear.

"I don't want to believe it and then find out that everything was a dream" Minato confessed.

"It is no dream. I will stay until tomorrow morning six o'clock. But now we should go down. Our son and I made breakfast for us. And I want to have breakfast as a real family. I want to make the most of those twenty-four hours we have together" she said kissing him again.

"Alright. I will believe you. But only because I know that what you told me is not impossible. After all I was saved from the Shinigami's stomach. If that was possible a visit from my dead wife is too."

"Finally you see reason. Come on, Naruto and I really did a good job in preparing breakfast" she told him smiling.

How had he missed her smile. Even if he only had one day with her, he would use every minute of it. And they would spend the day with their son. Finally be able to be a normal family. It was what he had dreamed of when he had been told by Kushina that she was pregnant with his child.

* * *

When the two entered the kitchen they were greeted by their smiling son.

"Finally. Come on, the muffins taste best when they are still warm" he exclaimed.

"Of course Naruto" Minato said. "This looks really good. Thank you for making all this together with your mother for me son."

"Hey it's your birthday Dad. You deserve having the best breakfast ever" Naruto answered happily, causing Kushina to slightly giggle at her son's eagerness.

They sat down and Naruto began telling his mother everything he could think of. His progress at the academy, the annoying fangirls, how his dad was the best ninja he knew and that he wanted to become like him and be Hokage when he was older, about his best friend Sai and all his other friends and what kind of prank he had planned for Yugito when he met her the next time.

Kushina listened attentively, only interrupting looking at her son to feed her husband some fruit with whip cream, which Minato obviously enjoyed.

"So what do you have planned for today?" Kushina asked Minato when the three had eaten all the muffins and fruits.

"Well, I have cleared my schedule completely for today and have threatened every single ninja at the tower that if they disturbed me today except in case of an invasion they would really not like what I would do to them. Let's just leave it at that. I don't want to give Naruto more ideas for pranks" he said smirking.

He had really been annoyed yesterday when the office ninjas had kept him at his office so late. He just hoped that they would remember his revenge for a long time and not repeat their mistakes.

"Except for the fireworks" Naruto stated.

"Yes you are right, except for the fireworks" Minato agreed knowing fully well how much Naruto liked fireworks.

"Do you still have that Hiraishin seal at the beach house in Moon Country Minato?" Kushina asked slyly.

"Yes I do" Minato answered seeing where Kushina was going.

"Then we will spend the day there. The beaches in Moon Country are the best and I want to have fun with my family today. We will use one of the seals here in the house to return in time for the fireworks" Kushina decided.

"Naruto, go to your room and pack your swimming trunks, sun protection, a big towel and things you want to take to the beach" Kushina instructed her son who shouted happily and ran upstairs to pack everything he needed.

Kushina turned to Minato.

"Do you still keep my old things?" she asked.

"Yes, I could never throw them away. I have missed you so much Kushina" Minato said, getting up embracing her.

"I know and I am sorry that I can't be with you two. I would do everything for a chance to stay with you permanently" she said, leaning her head onto his shoulder.

"I know Kushina. Perhaps one day it will be possible. I will never stop loving you. I just can't imagine any other woman at my side besides you. Why did you ask about your things?"

"Well, I had this really sexy black bikini I wanted to wear at the beach and needed to know if it was still here" she said seductively.

Minato blushed heavily. It had been years since he had been able to think about a beautiful woman in very little clothes. He just hadn't been interested in anybody but Kushina. Now thinking of her in a black bikini, which would be tempting him heavily with her athletic figure made his thoughts race.

"All at the right time Min. We have all night tonight for the adult fun. During day time we will have fun with our son" she whispered into his ear.

"You realize what will happen tonight if you tease me like this the whole day?" Minato answered in a deep voice sending shivers down Kushina's spine.

"Of course, I am counting on you being in top form" she answered not giving an inch in their flirting game.

"I am ready" Naruto interrupted them calling from the door.

"Good Naruto. Now your father and I will just get out things, or better I will pack our things and your father will go to the supermarket and get us some snacks and drinks fort the day. You can write a note for Kakashi that we will be away for the day and he shouldn't worry about us. This way we prevent an uproar about a missing Hokage" Kushina instructed and both male members of the Namikaze family followed her orders.

At five minutes to eight the family of three left the estate via Minato's special jutsu to enjoy their trip to the beach. All three believing that nothing bad could happen in a single day in Konoha.

* * *

At ten o'clock Kakashi Hatake, the last living member of team Minato opened the front door of the Namikaze estate. As he had been given a key by his sensei to be able to visit at all times, he just went inside and started looking for his sensei and his little brother figure. When his search turned out to be unsuccessful, he pondered where they could be. He hadn't been told of any plans that involved his sensei and Naruto leaving today. Well perhaps sensei only wanted to have his privacy with Naruto today. It wouldn't have been the first time this happened.

Finally Kakashi saw a small envelope with his name on it pinned to the fridge. He recognized Naruto's hand-writing. He opened the letter and began reading.

_Hi Kakashi,_

_My guardian angel listened to my wish and sent Mom down for Dad's birthday. We will be away for the day and return for the fireworks. So you don't have to worry about us. And don't try to find us, we are using Dad's Hiraishin to go to a nice place where he placed one of his seals some time ago. Mom said the place was great. So till tonight at the fireworks._

_Your little brother Naruto_

This was surprising Kakashi. But with the revival of his sensei he wouldn't doubt that Naruto's guardian angel had the power to bring back Kushina for one day. Well, as long as Naruto and Minato sensei were safe and happy he wouldn't worry. Besides his sensei could look after himself. Kakashi happily took some cold juice from the fridge, took a bag of chips from the cupboard and took out his new favorite book. Jiraiya really was a genius. He began giggling after some time and only stopped reading to take some chips or drink some juice before continuing his reading. After all, with the Hokage absent he had a free day. He would take advantage of this.

* * *

**Well, another chapter done. And again I am using the evil cliffhanger technique. He he, I wonder if some of you can guess where the plot will go. I have planned some nice things for the last part of the interlude but I thought it would be too much to put into this chapter so you will get the last chapter in a similar lenght like this or the one before. **


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello everybody.**

**This is the final part of my interlude. I have read all the great reviews I got and I decided to follow some requests for Kushina being revived. Well, I chose a different way for her to return as Minato. It would have been boring if they came back the same way and I have the problem that it wouldn't fit into the story right now. To find out you have to read to the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto or I would be rich.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter. Have fun.**

* * *

Chaos in Konoha – Peace at the Beach

It was still early in the morning when the shops in Konoha began opening their door for the early morning clients. They were mostly ninjas who had to start missions or some of them were returning from night shifts like guard duty or in Ibiki's case urgent interrogations. The busiest shops were bakeries and restaurants that had breakfast offered on their menus. Many took coffee to go with bread rolls.

At the Hokage tower the first office ninjas were sorting through mission requests or finishing reports for the separate departments. All of them knew that the Hokage didn't want to be disturbed today. But some, especially some desperate females, who wanted to attract the young Hokage's attention, had plans to surprise the man with a birthday present.

It got so bad that three male office ninjas had to break up a fight between two female office ninjas who were fighting over the privilege to give the Hokage her birthday present first. It led to all five of them getting injuries that had to be treated by the medics at the hospital. When Tsunade found out that the women were fighting over her son, she had them listen to a one hour lesson how to properly behave in the Hokage tower and why it was improper to flirt with your superior especially with her son.

If Shizune hadn't called Tsunade for a meeting of the leading medics at the hospital Tsunade would have continued her lecture, especially as three other women were brought in for the same reasons.

* * *

The clan heads knew of course that Minato didn't want to be disturbed at his birthday, but they wanted to congratulate him. So they had decided to make a short visit together to only take a little bit of his time. They had decided to meet at the Namikaze estate at nine and get it over with so that Minato could enjoy the rest of the day. It was after all only proper to wish the leader of the village a happy birthday.

When they reached the estate, they rang the bell but after a minute of waiting, they didn't get an answer.

"Where could he be?" Choza asked.

"This is troublesome, we came here to wish him a happy birthday and he is not here" Shikaku complained.

"Well, perhaps he is out for breakfast with Naruto" Hiashi suggested.

"Could be possible. I don't think Minato would want to cook on his birthday" Inoichi agreed.

"So what do we do now? I don't know how long it would take for the two to come back" Hikaru Kurama asked the others.

"Well, no use to wait for them. We will have to wait for tonight when Minato is supposed to come to the fireworks or if one of us coincidentally sees Minato in the village" Shibi said.

The others agreed. They divided into pairs or in case of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio in threes and went home. On their way they mused where Minato could have gone to. Sadly some others heard them and began talking about the missing Hokage.

* * *

At the beginning the stories were relatively close to the truth but with each retelling they got more and more fantastic.

At eleven half the village was in panic because they believed the Hokage had been kidnapped. Some others were telling that Naruto had been kidnapped and that the Hokage was chasing the kidnappers.

At twelve, when the meeting at the hospital ended a chunin ran up to Tsunade's office.

"Tsunade Sama, you have to come to the tower. Hokage Sama is missing, nobody has seen him since yesterday and from what we have gathered in the village there seems to have happened a crime. All we know is that somebody was kidnapped. As we don't believe that somebody would be able to kidnap Hokage Sama, we think that they have gotten Naruto."

"What? Who dares to kidnap my grandson? They will pay. Go get Jiraiya to the tower at once, I will meet you there" Tsunade ordered and left the hospital, leaving Shizune in control.

* * *

Kakashi had decided that he would go out to the training grounds to train a bit in a new technique he was developing. After seeing his sensei coming up with another new technique the month prior, he had been inspired to make a second original technique. He wanted to vary his chidori to have more possibilities in its use. After all, the way the jutsu was now he had to get close to his opponents and that wasn't always possible. So he had left the Namikaze estate at half past eleven, after finishing his book of course, and had gone to one of the outer training grounds to be undisturbed. He didn't plan returning to the village until one hour before the firework was planned to start.

After all, if his sensei had a whole day to do what he liked without being disturbed, he could also claim to not want being interrupted while working on his new jutsu.

* * *

Tsunade stood in front of map of the village trying to figure out where a kidnapper could have gotten in and made his way to the Namikaze estate to kidnap Naruto. But she just couldn't think of a way of doing so. Minato had made sure that nobody would be able to enter the village without triggering the security system. This meant they had one or more moles in the village. And she would find them, nobody endangered her grandson!

"Tsunade, I have just come back from checking all the seals at the walls and I have checked with the gate guards. There hasn't been any suspicious activity all day and last night. I wasn't able to find Kakashi anywhere in the village but I suppose he could be with Minato chasing Naruto's kidnappers" the toad sage reported.

"I thought so. But I fear we have to look to the inside. Nobody would be able to infiltrate the village and kidnap Naruto in one night. No, there has to have been a mole that caught the boy in an unsuspected moment and then transported him outside. That is the only explanation I can think of. Perhaps Naruto has wanted to get something to surprise Minato with for breakfast and has sneaked out. When the mole saw him, he stroke and drugged my poor grandbaby. Otherwise Naruto would have beaten him up. Minato must have soon found out that Naruto was missing, gotten Kakashi to follow his scent and given chase to not waste time for the kidnappers getting away with Naruto."

"You could be right. I think we should get Ibiki to question everybody who could have taken Naruto. Or better we let him interrogate everybody who doesn't have an alibi for the time from six to nine in the morning. That seems to be the only time frame possible. Otherwise somebody would have noticed if anybody abducted Naruto. I don't think this is the work of one single culprit. I suspect that one person, who had infiltrated the village some time ago did the abduction and a partner outside of the village did the following transport" Jiraiya suggested.

"Right, get Ibiki here, he has work to do. I want every single suspect arrested and interrogated ASAP" Tsunade ordered.

Nobody even asked why the slug sannin was taking command, nobody wanted to enrage the already furious woman even more.

* * *

Minato was chasing his son through the waves at the beach after Naruto had thrown a water bomb at him when he had been cuddling with Kushina. Naruto was laughing happily, even when his father caught him and threw him into the deeper water. Naruto got up and splashed his father, which was returned. Kushina didn't want to be left out and teamed up with her son against her husband. The three Namikazes were laughing a lot and finally returned to the beach to dry up.

Kushina took the bottle with the sun cream and first applied it to her son's skin and then, when he was finished, began applying it to her husband. Naruto, who had decided he wanted to build a sand castle was leaving them alone and the innocent act of applying sun cream turned into an arousing game for the two adults. Minato of course returned the favor of applying sun cream to Kushina and soon both of them were kissing passionately still remembering of not going too far as their eight year old son was too young to learn about sexual relationships. Minato was already dreading to have to give his son 'The Talk' in a few years but for now their son was still innocent and Minato intended to make sure it stayed this way for some time.

He had given both his student and his sensei a stern talking that if he found out that they were corrupting his son with their perverted interests he would hurt them worse than his mother ever could. Needless to say that both had behaved in company of Naruto. Kakashi kept his book in his pocket and Jiraiya behaved perfectly normal and avoided peeping when Naruto was around.

They lay relaxing in the sun, when other guest came to the beach. Minato lazily opened his right eye halfway and saw another family of three coming to the beach. They were followed by two guards that looked unhappy.

"Your highness, please, it isn't safe for you to come to a public beach" one of the guards tried to convince the now identified Prince of Moon Country.

"But captain, this is such a beautiful day and Hikaru has been looking forward to a day at the beach for days. And you will be more than enough to protect us. But I don't think anybody would attack us here in Moon Country" the Prince said.

Minato saw a small boy, perhaps three years or so younger than Naruto, who was holding his mother's hand and was looking around curiously.

Kushina rolled onto her stomach next to him and was looking at the family now.

"They would have been less conspicuous if the guard had put on beach clothes and wouldn't shout the identity of the prince out" she stated.

"You are right dear. But on the other hand that is how ninjas think, not normal palace guards. But I would suspect that they will become uncomfortable as soon as the sun stands higher" Minato answered.

* * *

While the adults were arguing, the small boy saw Naruto playing in the sand and walked over to him. Naruto looked up and looked at the younger boy curiously.

"Hi I'm Naruto, who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Hikaru. What are you doing?" the smaller boy asked.

"I'm building a sandcastle, do you want to help?"

Hikaru nodded.

"How do you do it?" Hikaru asked.

"Have you never built a sandcastle?" Naruto asked surprised.

"No, this is the first time I got my Dad to let me come to the beach."

"Oh, well building a sandcastle is easy. You have to take the sand around you and…" Naruto began explaining how to build a sandcastle to Hikaru and the younger boy intently listened to the explanations.

Then both boys began collecting sand on a heap and poured water over it to make it hold better.

* * *

Hikaru's mother finally noticed that her son wasn't with her anymore but found him happily playing in the sand with another blond boy, she had never seen before.

"Look Michiru" she said to her husband and he stopped arguing with his guards.

"What is it Amayo?" he asked, then following where she pointed her hand.

"Oh, it looks like Hikaru already found a new friend" he exclaimed happily.

"Your highness, Prince Hikaru could be in danger" the guards said.

"You are ridiculous, that boy it at most eight years old. He is just building a sandcastle with him. And Hikaru seems to be having fun. I am glad that he is doing something normal for a change" Amayo told them off.

Finally they heard someone giggling and they looked who could be the source of the giggles. They saw a red haired woman lying next to a blond man, who had to be the father of Hikaru's new friend. The man was obviously smirking and the woman was the one giggling.

"What is so funny?" one of the guards asked threateningly.

"Captain, stand back, there is no reason to treat innocent tourists like that" Amayo scolded the leader of the guards.

"But Princess Amayo" the captain started.

"Captain, Amayo is right. They are just a family that wanted to enjoy a day at the beach. Not dangerous assassins who are out to kill us. They are unarmed and only have things for the beach with them. Do you really think assassins would bring their small son with them when they want to kill somebody?" Michiru asked.

"But they could be ninjas, then they wouldn't need weapons we can see" the captain argued.

Minato groaned. He just wanted to enjoy his birthday with his family. Was that too much to ask? He only had his wife back for this one day. Why couldn't others just leave them alone?

"Just stop it captain. How would ninjas have known that we would come here today? We decided just half an hour ago" Amayo said, getting tired of the overly paranoid man.

Finally the captain caved in, but said he would tell Shabadaba about this foolishness. Amayo and Michiru rolled their eyes and had their guards set up a blanket and a parasol.

* * *

Both pairs of parents were now relaxing while the two boys played in the sand. After an hour of finishing the sandcastle, Naruto went to his parents and asked if he could go swimming. Kushina said he could, but he shouldn't go in deeper than he could stand. While Naruto could swim well, he had no experience with waves and he hadn't learned water walking yet. Naruto nodded happily and ran into the water. His new friend was following him.

"Minato, I think it would be good if we would eat after Naruto comes out off the water" Kushina said.

"Hm, agreed" Minato answered.

He was sure Naruto would be hungry after he came back from swimming. He was really looking forward to having a picnic with his family at the beach. They had some great snacks in their basket.

Naruto was following his mother's orders and stayed where he could stand. That didn't mean he avoided being hit by the waves. He laughed happily when the waves came rolling in and jumped through them. They were mild waves so even Hikaru was able to stand up every time he was rolled over. Which only happened twice. Suddenly a bigger wave came in and both boys were pulled under. Naruto heard someone telling him about ninja being hidden in the water.

When he opened his eyes to see he only saw an eel at the ground. Realizing that he could also understand animals in the water, he nodded and tried to swim to the surface. He just managed to breath in, when he felt someone grabbing his leg and he was pulled under again.

Kushina and Minato had been setting up their picnic at the beach, when they heard a shout and looked at the water. They saw a big wave crashing over their son and his little friend and ran to the water immediately. The guards were also reacting. They saw Naruto appearing again and breathing in before he went under the surface again. Minato and Kushina went immediately into fight mode.

"Looky, what we have here" they heard someone say.

The voice belonged to one of three ninjas that stood on the water now, the other two holding Naruto and Hikaru. Hikaru seemed to be unconscious and Naruto was struggling to escape.

"I would never have thought that our training trip here would bring us such an opportunity."

The ninja wore an underwater suit with the insignia of Kiri on it.

"I mean, not only do we come across the crown prince of Moon Country and his wife, no they also let their son play in the water without guards. I am sure your highness we can make a profitable deal. I will even throw in this other annoying brat. For the right price of course."

The guards were panicking. Michiru and Amayo were afraid for the safety of their son.

"Let us deal with them" Minato said with an icy look directed at the Kiri nins, who suddenly didn't seem to be so sure anymore.

"Nobody threatens my son and gets away with it" he added.

Kushina was already going through handseals.

"Water release: Water ropes" she called out.

Immediately ropes of water sprang up around the legs of the Kiri nins. Naruto used the distraction to get free of his capturer. He kicked behind him and hit him in the shin. He fell under the water surface, only to be pulled up by Minato, who had crossed the distance between the shore and the Kiri nins within seconds. He quickly made a shadow clone and had it stand back with Naruto while he knocked out the three ninjas effortlessly and freed Hikaru. Then he gave Hikaru to his clone that brought both boys back. Minato finally grabbed the three unconscious ninjas and pulled them to the shore.

"Weaklings" he said while throwing the ninjas in front of the guards that were stunned by this display of skills.

"Take them and put them in prison. While this seems to have been a coincidence, you should find out if there are others who would try to make a fast ryo by kidnapping the prince" he advised them.

"Hikaru" Amayo called out to her son and began fretting over him.

Meanwhile Kushina was checking Naruto and was glad to see, that he wasn't hurt.

"Thank you so much for your help. I don't know what would have happened without you getting my son back so fast" Michiru said gratefully to Minato.

"It was my pleasure your highness. But I wish we could have just had a day without an incident. We only wanted to spend my birthday away from the village where I would have been harassed the whole day without a doubt" Minato answered sighing.

"Now I know where I have seen your face" the captain said to Minato.

"You are Konoha's Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze. Aren't you the Yondaime Hokage?"

"Yes I am. Why? Can't a Hokage want to get away for a day and spend time with his family?" Minato asked.

"Don't you have to have guards protecting you?" the captain asked disbelievingly.

"Ditched them. I don't need guards to protect me, I am capable of doing so myself. And my wife is nearly as strong as I am. It would be fatal for an enemy to underestimate her. And if nobody knows where I am, they can't try to ambush me. At least not if I just get away for a single day. And the village won't fall apart because I am not there for the day."

"That is true" Michiru said, clearly impressed by meeting such a famous ninja by chance.

"Why don't you come with us to eat lunch, that is the least we could do for you saving our son" Amayo suggested to Kushina.

Kushina exchanged looks with Minato and they nodded to each other.

"With pleasure" Kushina answered.

Getting lunch for free was too good to pass. And it would be really rude to refuse the invitation of the grateful parents.

* * *

Tsunade had already ordered twenty search teams to look for traces of her son and grandson. Until now no team had had success. The kidnappers were really good. Hopefully Ibiki would have found out something.

"Alright Ibiki, did you find the culprit yet?" she asked.

"No Tsunade Sama. But we found three undercover agents. They weren't involved in the kidnapping of Naruto however" he said.

"Well, continue with the questionings. I want to find the culprit as soon as possible. The search teams haven't found anything yet so the interrogation department is our best chance to find a clue to where Naruto could have been brought. Damn, if I could just send Minato a message but we don't know where he is now. We could have sent him back-up."

"Have you tried asking the toads?" Ibiki asked.

"Yes Jiraiya already spoke with them, but they didn't know that Naruto was kidnapped. And they can't just pop up where Minato is, they would need a precise location and someone to summon them."

"Too bad. Well, I will go back and see if we have made progress" Ibiki said and left the room.

* * *

Danzo sat in his office thinking hard how it could have been possible for somebody to kidnap Naruto. It just didn't make any sense. They boy would have felt if anybody sneaked up to him. And he would have fought against anybody trying to kidnap him, therefore creating a lot of noise, which would have brought the ANBU to the place at once. The only chance for Naruto not fighting against an attacker would have been a wide area sleeping gas, which would have left traces that would have been found by now or if he was taken when he was sleeping. But the Namikaze estate was safe, nobody would have been able to enter without Minato and the ANBU knowing.

Something was wrong with this kidnapping. He knew for a fact that Naruto had a hiraishin seal hidden in the Kyubi seal on his stomach. So any kidnapping attempt would have been thwarted by Minato immediately appearing next to his son and taking out any kidnappers. So perhaps the question wasn't how Naruto had been kidnapped but if he had been kidnapped.

This thought made a lot more sense. Minato had told everybody that he didn't want to be disturbed the whole day and that he would be at the fireworks in the evening. So it could be possible that he just had taken Naruto with him using his hiraishin to go without anybody noticing. And if somebody had tried to wish Minato a happy birthday and he wasn't at his estate, comments about his absence could have been overheard, misinterpreted and blown out of proportion.

He knew that Tsunade and Jiraiya had been told around noon that Naruto had been kidnapped and had sprung into action. Understandable, after all Tsunade was Naruto's grandmother. Now there was just the decision what he should do with his knowledge. Normally he would tell Tsunade and Jiraiya that all of this was a blown up misunderstanding, but from the reports he had been given, they had already found three undercover agents. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. He made his decision.

"Fuu" he called.

The ex-root ninja appeared next to him.

"Yes Danzo Sama?" he asked.

"You will go to Tsunade and tell her I sent you to help with the interrogation of the suspects in Naruto Namikaze's kidnapping. Concentrate to flush out all undercover agents there might be. I am sure Naruto is just on a trip with his father but I want to use the opportunity to make Konoha safer. I will tell Tsunade what is going on in an hour. For now we will wait."

"Yes Danzo Sama" Fuu said and used shunshin to go to Tsunade.

"Well Minato, you will have a lot to do when you come back from your trip" Danzo said chuckling.

* * *

Minato, Kushina and Naruto had bidden Michiru, Amayo and Hikaru good-bye and Naruto had promised Hikaru that he would stay in contact with him. The Namikaze family was now walking up to an amusement park that Amayo had recommended. Naruto was excited and ran a few meters in front of his parents. They planned to stay at the park for three and a half hours before having dinner in a restaurant Michiru had raved about.

They reached the park and Minato paid for their tickets. The first part of the park was like a zoo but all the animals were running around freely and the visitors were walking through the landscapes the animals lived in. Of course there were only non-dangerous animals. But they were from all parts of the elemental nations. Naruto especially liked the monkeys as they were funny and the giant eagles as he wished he could fly like them.

They had a great time trying all the rides in the amusement park. Naruto giggled like mad when his mother shouted her joy while riding the water-adventure roller coaster. Minato liked the free fall ride modeled after the great tree in Taki best. Naruto loved everything fast and exciting. They also played some skill games together. Even if it was prohibited using ninja techniques, some things were just easy for a ninja even if he didn't use his special abilities. Like throwing balls at cans, darts or catching fish with small paper sheets.

* * *

Danzo stood in the office of the Hokage, where Tsunade was still thinking madly where her son and grandson could be.

"Hello Tsunade" Danzo greeted.

"Oh, hello Danzo, good to see you. Do you have any idea where Minato and Naruto could be now? Or how it could have happened that somebody was able to kidnap Naruto in the first place?" she asked desperately.

This was the time Danzo decided to release the worried grandmother of her fears. After all, they should have called all those suspicious of the crime in for questioning and Fuu would have easily found the spies with his Yamanaka clan techniques.

"I don't think that Naruto was kidnapped" Danzo said.

"What? Please explain" Tsunade said confused.

She had spent hours trying to find any clue how her grandson could have been kidnapped after she got the message and now Danzo was telling her that this wasn't a kidnapping.

"Well, you know as well as I do that Hokage Sama increased the village security massively when he retook the hat. An intruder that had been overlooked is impossible. Even S-class ninja would have been detected due to his seals. So the only possibility would be a mole inside the village. But if somebody had tried to kidnap Naruto inside the village Naruto would have offered resistance. He is too strong to be easily kidnapped. So he would have to be drugged. But the only way of doing that would be a wide area technique and we would have found traces of that.

Additionally, like with his wife Hokage Sama put a hiraishin seal into Naruto's seal for the fox. If Naruto had been kidnapped without anybody realizing it, the moment Hokage Sama found out he would have been at his son's side and rescued him. And it would only have taken ten minutes at most for him finding out that something was amiss. So the only possible explanation is that Hokage Sama used hiraishin to spend the day with Naruto somewhere some distance away as the search teams didn't find anything. I would guess some amusement park or other attraction. That is the only logical explanation I can come up with" Danzo explained his thoughts.

Tsunade sat down on the Hokage's chair in relief, realizing that Danzo was most probably right.

"Oh my god, why didn't I see that?" she asked.

"You were emotionally distressed when you heard your grandson was kidnapped. But it was a really good simulation for an emergency. And we found seven undercover agents, we would have otherwise not been able to find. So I think this was a productive day. But I would like to know how the rumors of a kidnapping were started" Danzo admitted.

"Me too Danzo and I will find out. We have the whole village on alert for a rumor. While we have some nice side effects, we can't effort to have the village panicking for no reason."

"I agree. One more thing for Hokage Sama to look into."

* * *

Kakashi returned to the village in a good mood. He had made progress with his long range chidori variant and he had finished his book. It was an hour before his sensei was due to come back from his trip and Kakashi just wanted to take a shower before he met the two Namikazes for the fireworks. When he stepped into the village he was really surprised to see everybody in uproar. What the hell had happened while he was training?

"Excuse me" he asked the guard at the gate.

The guard turned his head to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, good to see you, did you find him and the kidnappers?" the guard asked.

"Huh?" Kakashi asked unintelligently. "Did we find who and what kidnappers? I have been training outside the village the whole day" he stated.

"What? But we were told you were with Hokage Sama chasing Naruto's kidnappers" he was told.

"Naruto kidnapped? How did you come up with that story? Naruto left the village with Minato sensei early this morning for a family trip. Sensei used hiraishin to go wherever they went to, to avoid being disturbed today. They left a message at the fridge at the Namikaze estate. They will be back for the fireworks in an hour. How the hell did you think that Naruto could be kidnapped for a whole day without sensei finding him immediately?" Kakashi asked, pulling the attention of those near him to him.

"Wait, you say the whole thing was not true?" a kunoichi said.

"I don't know how this could have gotten so out of proportion but yes, it seems to me that somebody heard something, misinterpreted it and it blew up massively" Kakashi confirmed.

Now the story Kakashi told them was spread around fast. It seemed they had wasted a whole day for nothing. It was embarrassing. Kakashi decided to take a quick stop at the tower to see what had happened there and why Tsunade didn't stop this. She had access to the Namikaze estate after all and he had left the message from Naruto on the kitchen table. So he used shunshin to get there as fast as possible.

He arrived at the Hokage's office finding Jiraiya, Tsunade and Danzo drinking Sake and analyzing reports.

"Hello Kakashi. You won't believe what happened" Jiraiya stated grinning.

"I have an idea. I heard an interesting story at the gate about Naruto being kidnapped, which I immediately corrected" Kakashi answered.

"What you knew?" Tsunade shouted.

"How should I have known that Minato sensei taking Naruto on a trip would escalate in the village being put on alarm? I left the message Naruto wrote me on the kitchen table at the estate. I thought if you were looking for sensei you would go there first. Do don't blame me for you overlooking the obvious. I was on a training ground outside the village the whole day. I didn't even know about this before returning fifteen minutes ago" Kakashi defended himself.

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other sheepishly. Danzo just grinned. This was really amusing. He know fully understood why Minato said showing emotions outside of battle was a good thing.

"Well, as you see, we have also come to the conclusion that Naruto couldn't have been kidnapped. We sent messengers around to assemble the shinobi of the village in half an hour. We will present this as an unannounced mock disaster drill. And there were benefits, we caught seven undercover agents in the village" Danzo told Kakashi.

"That would probably be a good strategy. Sensei won't like the paperwork resulting from this though, you can be sure he will think of some kind of payback" Kakashi told them, making all three gulp.

The Hokage wasn't a legendary prankster for nothing. They vividly remembered his ideas when he was 'distracting' the villagers when he was just revived to enable the toads to gather evidence against the traitors. It had taken the Uchihas days to fully dispose the slime he had somehow covered the Uchiha district with.

* * *

Naruto, Minato and Kushina arrived at the Namikaze estate with one hour left to shower and get ready for the fireworks and official celebration for Minato. Naruto raced into his room and was giddy to get ready for the fireworks. Minato and Kushina took a bit more time and showered together.

Naruto was fidgeting on the sofa when his parents finally came down from their bedroom. Minato and Kushina were both wearing Kimonos and Naruto thought his mother was the most beautiful mother ever. When he told her what he thought she kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him, telling him that was really sweet of him.

They left the estate and walked to the tower, from where they would watch the firework that would be shot from the monument into the sky. On their way, they were greeted by many, somehow Minato had the impression that many were looking strange at them. Well, perhaps it was because he was with Kushina.

When they reached the tower, he grinned at the stunned faces of his mother, cousin and sensei.

"Yes this is really Kushina. Naruto wished to his guardian angel for her being sent down for my birthday and as Kami Sama didn't see anything wrong with letting her visit for one day, here she is. We spent the whole day together in Moon Country" Minato explained smiling brightly.

Many face faulted. Just why did they believe the Hokage's son had been kidnapped? The now revealed mock disaster drill had spiraled out of control so much that there would be reprimands for sure.

Tsunade got her act together first.

"Kushina, I am happy to see you again, even if it is only for today" she said and embraced her daughter-in-law.

"Thanks Tsunade sensei. I am really happy to be here. It was such an amazing day with my two boys. I wish we could have more of them" she said, promising herself to speak with Kami and Aohoshi if there were possibilities for her to at least visit her family sometimes.

"Granny, when will the fireworks start?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Tsunade smiled at her grandson.

"Soon Naruto. I think they will begin in five minutes or so."

"Great" he shouted happily.

He went back to his parents and took his mother's hand. She smiled at him. Everybody seeing them decided it would be easier to just leave it, they were exhausted from today.

Naruto sat on his mother's lap and watched the fireworks in awe. He just loved the colorful sparks falling down, forming pictures in the dark night sky and the sounds of explosions. He wished that his mother could stay with them, but he knew he was lucky enough to have her back for one day. Minato seemed to guess his son's thoughts. Well, it was easy as he himself shared Naruto's wish. Well, he would take advantage of all the time they had left this night. He just had to remember to place silencing seals around his and Naruto's bedrooms. All was well.

If only he knew what kind of horror the paperwork he would get the next day held for him.

* * *

Kushina stood in front of Kami and Aohoshi.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity Kami Sama and Aohoshi" she said smiling brightly.

"It was my pleasure Kushina. I am happy to see your husband and son thoroughly enjoying your visit" Kami answered. Then she got serious.

"I also have some grave news. Shinigami came over today and told me about some souls that are really annoying him. Their time has passed but they found ways to cheat death. You can imagine that he is not amused by this" Kami explained.

"Yes, I can see that he dislikes that" Kushina answered wondering why she was told this.

"As you are aware, Shinigami has no influence over the world of the living except if somebody summons him like Minato did. He then collects the soul of the other contract party as his price. Otherwise he sends his underlings to collect the souls of those whose time is up and have them escort the souls to him for judging. If they are judged positive, they come to my sphere, if they are judged negative, they go through a cleaning process whose length depends on the life the soul has lived before in Shinigami's sphere.

The world of the living in itself is mine to watch and only I can send my underlings to influence small things. Like I assign each child a guardian angel. Those make the majority of my angels. But I also have a small regiment of warrior angels that are sent down to the world if there is a massive imbalance of power. Normally the humans are able to solve their problems themselves, but this time Shinigami has made me aware of a massive imbalance caused by those who are cheating death. He has spotted four really strong cheaters, two you should have heard of. There are others, who are following the cult of the fake god Jashin, but they can be dealed with by the humans normally.

The others are Orochimaru of the Sannin, Madara Uchiha, Kakuzu of the five hearts and Hidan of the Jashin cult. These four are dangerous and they are especially dangerous for people like your son, who have the biju sealed inside of them."

"What do you mean they are after my Naruto?" Kushina asked worried.

"From what Shinigami told me, three of them are part of a terrorist organization, which intends to collect all the biju for their nefarious purpose. At the moment they are recruiting members. The forth would be a prime candidate for that organization. I think there will come a time, where I will need to send some worrier angels down to assist the humans. Are you by any chance interested joining my warrior angels? It is always the easiest way to send an angel who is familiar with the place they are needed at."

"Do you really need to ask Kami Sama? When can I begin my training?" Kushina asked and blood red wings sprouted from her shoulders.

"It begins now" Aohoshi said, holding a pair of swords in her hands, throwing one to Kushina who caught it, only to have to defend herself against the other angel.

"Oh, in case I forgot mentioning it, Aohoshi is a special case for an angel. She is the only angel who is a warrior angel and a guardian angel at the same time" Kami said grinning as she watched Kushina avoiding a slash from the more experienced angel.

* * *

**Finished. For all those who don't know who the charaters in Moon Country are, they are from the third Naruto Movie. From the movie I knew that Amayo left Michiru because she didn't like his behaviour. And as I didn't know how much younger Hikaru was than Naruto I guessed his age in the movie at ten years old and Naruto was thirteen. So they would now be five and eight respectively.**

**How do you like my idea for bringing Kushina back? It will take some time because she has to finish her training first but she will come back to help against Akatsuki and Orochimaru.**

**Next part will be the continuation of the normal story.**

**Bye.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello Everybody. I have finally finished this chapter. Sorry for the long break, but I was busy with some other stories I just had in my head. One of them my weekly Harry Potter story.**

**I hope you like it.**

**Formalities: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

**Graduation**

Naruto sat at the kitchen table at the Namikaze estate. He was eating a balanced breakfast that would give energy but wouldn't be too heavy in his stomach. Today was an important day after all. Today was the graduation exam at the academy. A lot had happened in the four years since he had met Gaara and his siblings Temari and Kankuro. He had constant exchange of letters with Gaara and had visited the other boy in Suna twice in those years. From what Gaara wrote and told him, his situation had started to get better after the Kazekage, Gaara really didn't want to call him his father, a sentiment Naruto shared, had told the council of Suna that the seal had been fixed by the Yondaime Hokage.

Seemingly some of the older ninjas had been upset that an outsider had been allowed to see the seal but with the information that somebody had tempered with the seal in a way that would have allowed them to easily extract the Shukaku made them shut up.

With the help of Temari and Kankuro, Gaara had started to socialize with the children of Suna. From a very funny letter Naruto knew that Temari was very outspoken if somebody dared to insult her little brother. After they had seen that Gaara was safe to be around as long as he had friends who didn't hate and fear him, they had made it their personal mission to change the way things were handled in Suna.

He knew Yugito had also written lots of letters with Temari. The two girls had stayed in contact as they each needed a girl that took her training as a kunoichi serious. Well, that was the reason Yugito had told him when he asked. He and Sai suspected they used the letters to exchange gossip. Girls for some reason liked to gossip. Even their female friends Hinata, Mai and Ino were often found giggling about one thing or another. But they never told the boys what they found so funny.

Naruto was excited to finally become a ninja. Yugito was already chunin and had rubbed it into his face more than once. He was really annoyed by that. But now he could catch up with her. He knew that the graduates of the ninja academy would be placed into specialized teams. Thanks to the better training during the last years there hadn't been any graduates who failed to become ninjas. The hopeless cases had been dropped way earlier.

Or if they didn't have the mindset for active duty but talent in other areas, they had been placed in special programs. He remembered one case very well, one of Sasuke's die hard fangirls, Sakura Haruno had been taken from the normal academy program after their third year. The girl had refused to do real physical training. But she had invested a lot of time into medical studies and genjutsu. The teachers had sent her for full time training at the hospital. She would be a medic in the village without field missions. While the girl had complained that she couldn't be around Sasuke anymore, she had finally relented at the threat to be completely dropped as a ninja.

Naruto just couldn't understand how somebody could be that stupid and obsessed. Well, her mother had been one of the traitors on the council. Perhaps she had brainwashed the girl from birth on. It was possible. Thankfully he didn't have to see her often as any of his injuries that didn't heal by his bloodline, were taken care of by Shizune or his grandmother.

He finished drinking his milk and put the plate and his cup into the sink. As it was Monday, the usual team of genin that his father sent to clean the house would take care of it. Normally he would just clean them himself but on Mondays he was allowed to let others do the job. As the Namikaze estate was high security area, no civilian employees were allowed to work there. The possibility for spies and assassins was too great. So each week a team of genin got the C-rank mission of cleaning the estate under the watch of the ANBU that guarded the property.

The only reason it was a C-Rank mission and not a D-Rank was the importance of the estate. Therefore it wasn't done by academy students like the other D-Rank missions. Naruto knew that he would work well with most of the top class if he was placed in a team with them. But first he needed to do his best in the exams today.

* * *

Naruto reached the academy after his daily exercise of sneaking there without being spotted by a group of his ever persistent fangirls. In the beginning, Sasuke, Sai and he had needed to sprint to the academy, chased by groups of girls. Later, when they had mastered stealth, things had got easier. They had managed to sneak by the groups most of the time except if one spotted them coincidentally. But that had only happened in the beginning.

He spotted his friends and walked over to them. All had grown a lot since they had started the academy six years ago. Mai, Ino and Hinata were the top kunoichis of the academy. They wore clothes that showed their professional attitude for their chosen profession. Their clothes were similar styles with some personal accessories. Ino, who loved the color purple, wore a purple sleeveless shirt over a short sleeved mesh shirt. She wore long purple pants that were secured with white bandages on her ankles. She had a light blue belt that secured her weapon pouch. The belt also held her two sais on both sides of her hips.

Mai preferred dark blue, so her outfit mirrored Ino's in that color with her mesh shirt being white as well as her belt. Her chosen weapon was a naginata that was secured on her lower back for easy access.

Hinata had chosen a black top with dark red pants. Her mesh shirt also was dark red, if it was dark outside the color would be thought to be black. Her bandages were black as was her belt. Her weapon was a chakra conducting whip. With her training in juuken, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Naruto wore black pants and a long sleeved black mesh shirt. Over the mesh shirt he had a dark burnt orange short sleeved shirt with black stripes like a tiger. It worked well for camouflage. He also had black fingerless gloves like his big brother figure Kakashi. His weapons were a short sword and a shakram, a round throwing weapon that had sharp blades on the outside. If he channeled his wind nature chakra into the shakram, it was very hard to evade his weapon. (For reference look at the weapon of Xena)

Sasuke's outfit was completely black. He had a small Uchiha fan on his right shoulder, that was all the color to his outfit. His chosen weapon was a katana on his back.

Sai had a similar outfit with black pants but this long sleeved shirt was dark green. His weapon was a tanto. All of them wore ninja sandals.

They exchanged the normal greetings. All of them were in a phase of concentration before the exams started so they didn't talk much.

* * *

For the graduation exams all three classes were doing it together. The other students at the academy had got the day free. As it was tradition now, the teachers didn't grade their students. The proctors for the exams were three elite jonin and the Hokage. This year, the jonin were Ibiki Morino, the head of the torture and interrogation unit of ANBU, Shikaku Nara, the jonin commander, and Jiraiya of the sannin.

None of the jonin would be taking a team this year, so there was no possibility for favoritism. The potential graduates were lined up in groups of five each, facing the proctors. Minato stood up and began his speech.

"As you all know, today you are going to be tested if you are ready to serve the village Konohagakure as a ninja. You have studied, trained and exercised hard to get here. You are the best of your age group. Now it is up to you to show the results of the past six years to us. The first exam is throwing weapons. You will be given standard kunai, shuriken and senbons, all in top condition. You will go through a course with moving and stationary targets. You will be marked at the end for accuracy, choice of weapon in different situations, usage of resources and speed. Begin" he explained.

Renzo, the teacher for the middle class, stepped forward and began calling names alphabetically. That meant Shino and Choji were the first ones to go through the course. Both did well. The top score was one hundred. Shino scored eighty six and Choji eighty one. The list went on and the three teachers made sure the students were not cheating by using bloodlines or anything else to gain an advantage.

Finally Naruto was called. He walked up to the proctors, took his equipment pouch, inspected the contents and walked to the start line. He was given the signal to begin and ran into the course. Over the last six years he had been trained to spot targets in a split second. He had thirty shuriken, thirty kunai and forty senbons. He knew that there wouldn't be one hundred targets but he needed to place his weapons in the center of each target to get full marks.

He soon threw two kunai at farther away targets, which embedded perfectly. He knew for targets at long range, kunai would be the best choice. Shuriken for middle and short range and senbons for all ranges if you were skilled enough. Otherwise middle and short range were the only options as the light needles could be blown of course easily.

Naruto ran and threw his weapons relentlessly at a moment's notice once he spotted his targets. Then he had to evade a counter attack of senbons, shot by automatic launchers hidden in the trees, which were also his next targets. Naruto knew they would stop firing once he hit bull's eye. So he took care of the launchers and ran on. He had disabled twenty eight targets already. The next part was an obvious trap, which made him switch from speed to stealth.

He observed the clearing and spotted five targets, three traps and one dummy opponent. He used senbons to take out the traps, springing them before he entered the clearing. He hit the targets with shuriken and the dummy with a kunai to the forehead. Then he continued, only to find himself at the finish line.

"Naruto Namikaze, time seven minutes, thirty four seconds" Akira announced "please give your remaining equipment to the proctor and take your place in line."

Naruto did as he was told and went back into line. When his marks came up, he was very pleased to hear he had received full marks.

The next test was chakra control, they had to demonstrate it in a course, where different environments demanded them to climb trees or walk on water. None of the students had problems with either. It also doubled as an obstacle course for agility and speed.

It was followed by a written part on battle history, strategy, survival skills, geography, the ranking system and poisons. Then the first aid exam was taken. Tsunade had insisted on that part. Every ninja needed to be able to take care of common wounds until a medic was present to heal the wounds properly. It had shown to be a major success in the field.

While Tsunade's dream to have one medic on every team hadn't been fulfilled yet, as training medics that could survive in the field took a lot of time, the basic first aid abilities, which were nothing other villages would declare basic, had saved many ninjas of Konoha.

Next were taijutsu matches. For this part, ten chunin had been chosen to be the sparring partners for the students. They had to demonstrate the katas for three different taijutsu styles each, one was the traditional academy style, and two were of the student's choosing. After they had shown the three styles' katas they were to fight for five minutes against the chunin. Their performance in both parts made up their taijutsu mark.

Next part was ninjutsu. They had to demonstrate transformation, substitution and one kind of clone each. Then they had to show three other jutsus of their choice. One of them needed to be an E-rank elemental jutsu at least.

This was followed by a stealth exercise. They had to get a scroll from a building that was guarded by three enemies.

Next were the electives. Many had weapon tests, others presented their skills in sealing, medical jutsu, genjutsu, which had been made an elective for those who wanted to specialize in the area and advanced tool usage.

* * *

The tests took a lot of energy from the students but finally they were finished with their exams.

"You have all done very well in the exams. I am proud to announce, that all of you have passed this part of the exams" Minato told them, getting happy cheers.

"Yes, your cheers are well deserved. Now you will find out your overall marks and class ranking in one week, together with your team placement. You know that to become genin you have to pass the last test, the team exercise. You have got to know your classmates over the last six years, have taken missions during the last two years with them inside the village."

At this point many ninja shivered. After the chaos they had produced on the Hokage's birthday some years ago, he had set up some very special missions for the academy students, which targeted the older ninjas with embarrassing pranks. The last two years had been especially hard on them, as Naruto had been exceptionally hard to stop in his pranks, er, missions. Like father like son, as many said. Hokage Sama really had hated the amount of paperwork he had had to deal with after his birthday.

The boy had managed to paint the Hokage Monument in broad daylight, exchanged the food supplies for the Inuzuka dogs with some, laced with sleeping drugs, on another day the water supply for the Aburame clan had been swapped for energy drinks. Those hadn't been happy days for the other ninjas. After all, he had managed to do it without leaving any proof that it had been him at the scene. When the mission discussion at the academy took place afterwards, the students had many guests that wanted to find out how the hell those pranks had been possibly pulled.

Turned out that Naruto, Hinata and Sai made a terribly effective team. Sai had used invisible ink as a carrier for the energy drink agent for the Aburame bugs. Naruto had convinced ants to put sleeping drugs in the dog food. Hinata had been lookout for the Monument painting, which had been the work of both boys. They were just thankful that Shikamaru was placed on another team. With a strategic genius like him added to the mix, things would have been a lot worse. After all, his team had stolen the whole supply of shampoo for the Hyuga clan. From their own compound!

* * *

Naruto waited for his father to finish talking to the teachers at the academy about delivering their notes for the team placements tomorrow morning. Today he wanted to spend time with his son.

Finally he bid them good-bye and walked over to Naruto, a big smile on his face.

"Congratulations Naruto, I am really proud of you" Minato said.

"Thanks Dad. I am glad that everything worked out well for me. Do you know where I am in the ranking?" Naruto asked.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, that would be unfair towards the other students" Minato replied grinning.

"No fair" Naruto pouted.

"Tough, what do you think, some celebratory ramen at Ichiraku's?" he asked, immediately getting the response from his son, he wanted.

Naruto just loved ramen. And they both liked to spoil themselves from time to time at Ichiraku's.

"Yeah, let's go Dad" Naruto cheered.

Both Namikaze men walked through the village towards the ramen stand. They entered and greeted Teuchi Ichiraku, the owner.

"Hey Teuchi, how are you?" Minato asked.

"Hi Teuchi" Naruto piped.

"Oh, hello Hokage Sama and Naruto. What can I do for you today?" Teuchi greeted smiling at them.

He knew he would make a good profit today. Both Namikaze were known for eating great amounts of ramen when they came here.

"I want a miso ramen, a beef ramen and then a pork ramen" Naruto said.

"I will start with chicken ramen, then shrimp, then miso" Minato answered.

"Coming up" Teuchi said.

* * *

Minato sat behind his desk, the results of the graduation exams at the academy in front of him. On the other side of the desk were the potential jonin senseis for this year.

"Alright. We have 45 graduates this year. All achieved good results during their exams. I think they will prove valuable shinobi for our forces in the future. Now, that makes fifteen new teams. The students will be paired according to their results. That means we will have five elite teams, five average teams and five teams trained for support duties. We will have two specialized teams, one will be training for tracking, one for espionage. Those teams will be led by Tsume Inuzuka for the tracking team and Anko Mitarashi for the espionage team. They are part of the first two categories.

Those two have already told me their preferences for their teams. Tsume, your team consists of Shino Aburame, Reina Nara and Kiba Inuzuka. Anko, you are the sensei for Yakumo Kurama, Masato Kuno and Tsubasa Wakashi."

The two female jonin nodded. Those six had been on their list of preferences they had given the Hokage for the set ups of their teams.

"Now we will go over the remaining teams" Minato said and started with the support teams.

* * *

It was finally time for them to be put into teams. All of the graduates were assembled in one big classroom to find out, who their new teammates would be. Finally Renzo and Akira came into the room to start the team placements.

"Good morning everybody. Today you will start your careers as ninja for our village. You have worked hard during the past six years. We are very proud of all of your exam results. Before we come to the team placements and you get to meet your jonin senseis, we will announce the top five students of your year. We just want to say, the results for top male and top female student had been very close this year. Only a few points separate the best and second best students in those areas.

Enough of this. Overall fifth in results is Shino Aburame, fourth is Mai Nakasawa, third is Hinata Hyuga, second is Sasuke Uchiha, first and therefore Rookie of the Year is Naruto Namikaze."

Naruto cheered and high-fived Sai. He had won the final competition of the academy against Sasuke.

"Well, I just have to beat him making chunin" Sasuke commented grinning.

He could accept those results. He knew Naruto and he were really close in skill and power. It had had to be one of them who made Rookie of the Year.

"We will see about that Sasuke" Naruto replied good natured.

"For everybody else, the exact ranking has been sent to your homes already. Now we will continue with the team assignments. There are two specialized teams. Team one is a tracking team under Tsume Inuzuka, consisting of Shino Aburame, Reina Nara and Kiba Inuzuka. Team two is an espionage team under Anko Mitarashi, consisting of Yakumo Kurama, Masato Kuno and Tsubasa Wakashi. Team three under Genma Shiranui …" Renzo continued reading the teams.

"Team twelve under Kurenai Yuuhi, Wataru Ikonama, Manami Akimichi and Taro Yokado, team thirteen under Itachi Uchiha" this got some murmurs as Itachi was famous in the village. "Sasuke Uchiha, Mai Nakasawa and Shinji Orotate, team fourteen under Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka and team fifteen under Kakashi Hatake, Hinata Hyuga, Sai and Naruto Namikaze."

Naruto was happy. He had two of his best friends in his team and his sensei was his big brother. It made sense that Kakashi would be taking care of a team that would be very versatile. Naruto with his big reserves was perfectly suited for being a ninjutsu specialist, Hinata leaned to taijutsu with a secondary specialty in medical jutsu and Sai was a long range ninjutsu, genjutsu user. Their team was well balanced.

* * *

**That's it for now. I will try to update sooner next time, but I can't promise anything. Just know that I will see this stor through to the end.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hi everybody. I have finally finished the new chapter for this story. So now I proudly present the 28th chapter.**

**Thanks to all those who left a review for the last chapter (s). I enjoy reading them.**

**As usual Naruto sadly doesn't belong to me.**

**I hope you like the new chapter. Have fun.**

* * *

**Bell test**

Naruto, Sai and Hinata sat under the tree outside the academy in the shadows. They all knew that while Kakashi was one of the top ninjas in the village, he still kept coming late in memory of his fallen best friend Obito Uchiha. At least he limited it to half an hour. From his father Naruto knew that it had been worse in the past when he had believed that he had lost all the people that were precious to him.

"We have ten minutes left until he should show up." Sai commented.

"Yes, we should go inside." Hinata said.

"Okay." Naruto agreed and the three went back to their classroom.

They sat down on their seats and waited for Kakashi. He arrived exactly one hour after the allotted time and gave them one of his famous eye smiles.

"Hello my cute little genin." He greeted them.

"Hi Kakashi." They answered as they all knew him well.

"No, no, no, from now on you will have to call me Kakashi sensei when we are training or on missions. We can't ignore protocol." He admonished.

They rolled their eyes but knew he was right.

"So where do you want to give us the teamwork test Kakashi sensei?" Sai asked.

"I have reserved training ground three this afternoon. We will go right there." He said and vanished in a shunshin.

"I really need to get him to teach me that jutsu." Naruto said.

He had been asking Kakashi to teach him shunshin for two years now, but he had always answered he would learn it once he had graduated. Well, now he would have to make good on his promise.

* * *

The three took the route over the roofs to reach the training ground and arrived five minutes after leaving the academy. They found Kakashi taking their time.

"Four minutes, fifty three seconds. Not bad for the first time with basic training. And you came as a team in formation, good." He commented and wrote the time and comments down.

Danzo had recommended the use of measuring the time and behavior of each group for the team exercise. As the genin to be all knew that they would be tested on teamwork, the jonins had to use little things to make sure their teams really understood the principle.

"Alright, you know what this is about." Kakashi said, his look serious.

The genin to be nodded.

"Your mission is to take these bells from me." He said, showing two silver bells to them.

In the past the genin would have had to conclude that they had to attack as a team to get the bells. If the team showed they understood teamwork they would be passed by their sensei, if not, it was back to the academy. But now all graduates from the academy had been drilled in teamwork exercises and missions for two years already. It really was a boon for the village that the academy students of the last two years had taken over the D-rank missions.

Before Minato had returned to his post as Hokage, genins had often complained about being forced to do chores for the village and not get any interesting missions. The most interesting mission had been Tora the cat, but since Naruto had convinced the wife of the fire daimyo that she had to be gentler with Tora, the cat had refrained from escaping too often. Normally if the cat was missing, the daimyo just sent an inquiry if the cat had been spotted at the Namikaze estate, as Tora sometimes decided that she wanted to visit Naruto.

Now the genins got low level C-Ranks for practice. They were slightly more interesting and the genin got out of the village for them most of the time. It was a good opportunity for the young ninjas to see more of the elemental countries and make contacts in other villages through their missions.

"You have four hours, until the alarm sounds, to get them from me. Everything you ever learned is allowed. To beat me, you have to come at me with the intent to kill. The only restriction for you and me is that nobody can leave the training ground before the alarm sounds." Kakashi explained and his students nodded seriously.

"Okay, start." He announced and vanished from the spot he had been at in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto took charge of the team like he always did when they had been teamed up at the academy.

"Okay, we need a plan. First we need to find him. Hinata, could you look for him with your byakugan?" He asked.

"Sure thing Naruto." She replied. "Byakugan. Hm, I can't definitely say where he is. There are three hits, from the things I see; at least two of them are shadow clones of Kakashi sensei. I can't distinguish between shadow clones and the real one as they all have chakra systems. He could also hide underground; my byakugan only can see a small area underground." She informed her teammates.

"Hm, alright, we need to plan this without Kakashi sensei overhearing us. Where would you say is the best place to plan how we take him on?" Naruto asked.

"Difficult, even if we managed to get away from the original, with the shadow clones he will always know what we plan if they get close enough to us. He has enhanced senses from his training with nin-dogs." Sai gave his input.

"There is only one place that we could be absolutely sure that he can't overhear us, the air." Naruto declared. "Sai, can you draw a huge bird that can take us high enough that we can talk undisturbed?"

"No problem." Sai confirmed and quickly drew a bird and enlarged it with his jutsu. Naruto, Hinata, and Sai climbed the bird and took off into the air.

Kakashi had watched his students to get an impression of their plans. He had hidden himself underground with a listening device to the surface in pace.

"Not bad, they have realized that any plan they could come up with would be useless if I knew it beforehand. And I really can't listen to them in the air, especially as Naruto is a wind elemental and can divert the sound of their conversation from me. After all, that was the wind jutsu he presented for his graduation exam." Kakashi pondered. "This is going to be fun."

In the air the three were planning their strategy.

"Okay, I can find him and his clones no problem." Hinata said. "But we still need to trick him. Do you think he would use his sharingan in the test?"

"I don't think so, that would be overkill. After all, we are just genin and he normally only uses the sharingan against strong opponents as it costs him a lot of chakra. And he only wants to see if we can efficiently come up with a plan to take him out while showing teamwork." Naruto stated.

"What do you think about me placing as many ink animals around the training ground as possible? The small ones don't take much chakra from me and I could both spy on and trap Kakashi sensei with them. While my animals provide a distraction we could prepare better traps around the training ground." Sai suggested.

It was a sound plan as Naruto was known as one of the best trap builders in Konoha. The problem was Kakashi knew it.

"Normally that would work Sai, but Kakashi is special. He knows me and my strengths and weaknesses too well. After all, he taught me a lot of my abilities. We need to think outside the box."

"Naruto, do you have any seals that would work as a trap with you? I mean those that create a barrier field?" Hinata asked.

"Yes I do. What did you think of?" He asked.

"Well, if Kakashi sensei doesn't use his sharingan, he would probably overlook well hidden seal tags if we produce enough of a distraction. Once we have him trapped, we can get the bells." She suggested.

"That could work. He just mustn't notice that I place those seal tags or he would be able to easily avoid the trap. So it would be best if I set up one of my special traps to distract him from the true trap. Okay…" Naruto began to grin evilly.

Hinata and Sai also smirked. They knew the grin on Naruto's face very well. It was the grin he had when he was on one of the pranking missions the Hokage loved to give out if some of his ninjas had annoyed him again. Kakashi wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

One anda half hours, three killed shadow clones of Kakashi, several dozen killed clones of Naruto and three distraction attempts later, everything was ready. Naruto had produced a bunch of shadow clones to support Sai and Hinata in their attempts to outsmart Kakashi. They all knew that they had to have Kakashi overlook the last layer of their plan. That man not only looked underneath the underneath, he checked even the layer beneath that. It was probably the reason he was still alive and one of the strongest ninjas Konoha had at the moment.

Finally they led Kakashi in the direction of Naruto's trap labyrinth as he had dubbed it. It was a masterpiece of wire-traps, seal tags going off, kunai, shuriken, and senbons launchers, paint bombs, glue fields, little explosives to stir Kakashi into the next trap and at the end the real trap of the seal barrier field. As they had hoped, Kakashi was very busy in the trap field to avoid all of Naruto's ideas of how to catch an opponent.

Kakashi gained a whole new level of admiration for the academy teachers during his attempts to dodge in the trap field. After all, they had had to deal with Naruto for six years. He also recognized the influence of Shikamaru Nara in some of Naruto's traps. They were well designed and Kakashi was sure no one below high jonin would be able to avoid all the traps. This was really high skill that Naruto presented for the test.

The three of them would be passed for sure; they had worked well as a team to get him into this field. When he was bombarded with yellow paint, he swore to complain to his sensei about giving Naruto too much pocket money to buy prank items. When he tried to substitute with a log, he added the sealing lessons as well on his list. In the place the log had been before, was a whole new batch of sealing tags that were activated as soon as they noticed his chakra from the jutsu. He was pelted with sharp metal objects and had to take some hits from senbons as it was just impossible to dodge or deflect them all.

The boy just had to go overboard. He really had to ask how he got that many weapons sealed in his tags. Again he was forced to use substitution to get out of the trap. He expected to have all logs close to him be another trap so he chose one further away, only to realize that he had played into the hands of his students again. As soon as he landed, he was launched into the air by an explosive tag and then he heard Naruto's voice.

"Activate!" He called.

Kakashi found himself dispended in the air inside a red field that immobilized him. He tried to get out, but somehow his connection to the outside was cut off.

"Gotcha Kakashi sensei." Naruto stated proudly. "Don't try to escape. That seal is one of the new ones Dad helped me develop last week. The only way to disable it is from the outside. And as you don't have contact to the ground, you can't use thee mole jutsu to escape as well."

"Hm, you may have caught me, but how will you get the bells?" Kakashi asked, while being deeply impressed.

"Oh, you mean these bells Kakashi sensei?" Sai asked, holding up the bells.

Kakashi grabbed at his belt and found the bells.

"Nice try Sai, but those obviously are fakes you produced with your jutsu." Kakashi said eye-smiling.

"Perhaps you want to rethink that statement Kakashi sensei." Hinata said giggling.

Kakashi looked at his belt again and saw the bells dissolving into ink.

"But when?" He asked.

"I had some of my ink animals hidden in the trap field. We knew you would be too busy dodging all of Naruto's traps to concentrate on the bells. One of them took the originals while you were in the weapon launching trap and one put the fakes onto your belt, as we were aware that you would notice if they were gone. After all, you didn't say that you couldn't get them back before the test was over. You only told us that we had to get them from you before the time was up." Sai explained.

"That's the reason we had you go through the trap field that would get you to substitute to the position the final trap was placed. With my byakugan I observed our moves in the trap field to be sure when you would be in position to capture you. And I also know that we got all your shadow clones. There is no one left to get you out of the trap." Hinata said.

Kakashi was really proud of his team. Even if it was embarrassing that three fresh genin had outsmarted him. But he had the consolation that he hadn't gone all out against them. They had proven their abilities and had done great.

"Alright, you three pass. Now please let me out of here." Kakashi said, to the cheering of his new team.

* * *

Kakashi met the other jonin senseis and the Hokage in the Hokage's office.

"Good, everybody is here. Report." Minato ordered.

Tsume started as she was sensei of team one.

"Team one passed." She said. "I gave them a test to track Kuromaru down on the training ground, while doing interference with their senses and stating low level attacks. I designed the test as if Kuromaru was an enemy spy who tried to get away with important information and his partner was trying to buy him time to escape. They managed to nearly stop Kuromaru before he passed the finish line, but failed by hair's breath. Nonetheless they came up with a sound strategy and worked flawlessly as a team."

Anko was next to report.

"Team two passed. I had them spy on team fifteen during their test and had them report everything they saw in detail. I also watched the test Kakashi gave his team and my only comment is, your son is positively crazy Hokage Sama and I want one of his weapon traps for myself. Well back to my team…" She said, under the disturbed looks of her comrades. "Yakumo cloaked her team into a genjutsu to hide them from being discovered by team fifteen and the three used the spying techniques they learned in the academy to great efficiency to put together a detailed report on team fifteen. I have the report here for you to see Hokage Sama." Anko said, handing over the report her genin had written.

Minato looked over the report and had to control himself from laughing out loud. That sounded like his son. Poor Kakashi.

The senseis for the teams three to eleven reported. Team nine was passed on probation by their sensei. He wanted to watch them a while longer to see if they would keep working together as he had sensed underlying tension between the two males on his team. But as they had shown they could put their difficulties aside for the test, they passed.

Minato nodded. He knew that sometimes the teams weren't optimal but there was no way he could get all the teams to be perfect.

Kurenai stepped forward.

"Team twelve passed. They showed great teamwork and have a lot of promise to become a team suited for support and information gathering. They were tasked to gather information about the director of the Konoha bank and not to be detected. They managed to find out many things that are known to the public of Konoha and even got his address by sneaking into his office in the bank. This leads me to my recommendation to increase the security at the bank."

Minato nodded and wrote the suggestion down on his notepad. He loved the Teamwork tests. They got the population of Konoha to up their precautions against intruders every time, as the jonins had to be creative with their tests as the genin knew what was required from them.

Next was Itachi. He had asked to leave ANBU to train his brother's team. As Sasuke showed great potential in the use of his sharingan, but Minato wanted to prevent him to depend on the eyes, he found Itachi to be perfectly suited to train his brother.

"Team thirteen passed." Itachi said. "I had them locate and subdue me on the training ground. They worked as a functional unit and while they couldn't subdue me, they managed to constantly locate me. They used the strengths of all the members of the team well."

Everybody was used to Itachi reporting calmly and detached. The only time he lost his professional attitude was when he was off duty and with Sasuke.

Next was Asuma.

"Team fourteen passed. The three work together really well and Shikamaru might become better at developing strategies as Shikaku in a few years. My test was to capture me at the training grounds. Ino and Choji herded me into a trap where I was distracted by being forced to dodge many weapons, by the way Anko, I think Naruto gave Shikamaru some of his weapon seals, which enabled Shikamaru to catch me with his shadow jutsu. Choji held me while Ino tied me up."

Many jonin nodded. That sounded like a new successful generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho team.

Kakashi was last.

"Team fifteen passed. And as Anko saw fit to spy on my test, you have a full report of my team's test, which means I don't' need to tell it again." Kakashi said happily.

He really wanted to prevent having to report his embarrassment.

"Yes, there is no need to tell Kakashi, as I have it all on tape. You didn't really think I would miss my son's teamwork test, did you Kakashi?" Minato asked happily.

Kakashi dropped his head.

"No sensei." He answered.

"That's good and I think it would be a good demonstration of their skills if we watched it together."

Minato activated the replay function on the crystal ball on his desk and all the jonin got to watch team fifteen's test. Sometimes he just loved to embarrass his old student. At the end they were either laughing at Kakashi or showing admiration for the ideas of the three genin.

"Okay, I think this concludes the meeting. Train your new teams well. As you all know, Konoha is hosting the chunin exams in eight months. The next ones in two months are held by Iwa. I expect for the ones held in Konoha to present the best image possible to our clients. None of your teams will be allowed to participate in Iwa as it is too soon. But if your genin teams show their abilities during training and missions to your satisfaction, I will allow them to enter the ones in Konoha."

The jonin nodded. They would use the time until the chunin exams to train their teams hard. It was an honor to have the exams held in their village and it was normal that the hosting village would do its best to impress clients to gain many missions.

* * *

Two women were sprinting at each other with swords in their hands. They both were sweating and breathing hard, indicating a hard training session. Next to them on a white marble throne sat another woman who watched them fighting. One of the fighters had blue body armor; the other one's was red. Both women could be identified as angels easily with their wings proudly displayed at their backs. And their wings enabled them to use techniques that normal people thought to be impossible. Their maneuverability was more than impressive.

"That's enough!" Called the woman on the throne.

Both angels sheathed their swords and knelt in front of the throne.

"I am really happy at your display of skills Aohoshi and Kushina. From my informants on earth, I know that one of your targets, Orochimaru to be precise, will make his move soon Kushina. Your positive results on the missions you have already done made me decide to send you down now to prepare for his strike that will come within the next year. Remember that even if he isn't immortal like those Jashin worshipping bastards, he is more skilled than them."

"Of course Kami Sama." Kushina answered respectfully. "Am I allowed to contact my husband and son?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes you are. In fact we want you to ask Minato to share his information about Orochimaru and his plans with you to better prepare everybody for the task." Kami answered smiling.

"Thank you Kami Sama." Kushina said happily. She would be able to see her family again. And this time for longer.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter. I hope you liked the changes in the attempt to pass the bell test. I hope nobody minds that I didn't give a blow for blow account on the test; as I tend to skip over them in other stories if there are too many deatils, I kept to the general facts.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hi, I have finally finished the next chapter after I lost all my previously written work on this story. I also had to re-read the previous parts of the story to not forget anything I already wrote. **

**I'm sorry for the really long wait. Now I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

* * *

**First mission**

Naruto, Hinata and Sai were waiting for Kakashi to arrive at the training grounds. They would take their first C-rank mission today. They had all packed their supplies and were ready for this. They had absolved two weeks of massive training to get the permission to go out of the village on a mission. It was a really good time for this as the jonin senseis normally trained their teams for at least four weeks. They knew that as a fresh team they would only get a low level C-rank, but it was a lot better than the D-ranks that they had performed at the academy.

"What do you think we will be doing?" Sai asked.

"Probably some kind of transport mission. Yugito said that was what she and her team mostly got in the beginning." Naruto said.

"No matter what it will be, it will be nice to get a real mission finally. I'm just glad that with the new system we don't have to do D-ranks after graduating anymore. Father told me about them and it never made sense to me that genin should do chores only to build teamwork." Hinata added.

"Well, thanks to dad that isn't the case anymore. Perhaps we get an easy protection mission soon." Naruto pondered.

"Good morning, team." They heard Kakashi's voice.

"Good morning, Kakashi sensei." They responded turning towards their sensei.

"I see you are ready for the mission. Let's head to the tower." Kakashi stated.

The three children followed their sensei and once inside the mission office stood next to him.

"Ah, team 15. You are really early getting a C-rank." Minato commented.

"They are ready, sensei." Kakashi stated.

"I don't doubt it. Your mission is getting the last shipment of supplies for our hospital from Tea Country. The ship arrives tomorrow at ten in the morning. Kakashi, you will check the delivery and seal the things in storage scrolls. The hospital needs the supplies fast, so go at full speed." Minato said.

"Understood." Kakashi said and accepted the scroll. "Captain Muramau again? I didn't see him since I was a chunin."

"Yes, the old sailor is still working for us. Give him my best wishes." Minato said smiling.

"I will sensei." Kakashi confirmed.

"Naruto, Hinata, Sai, I expect a good performance from you on this mission." Minato said, looking at each of the young genin.

"We will, Hokage Sama / Dad." They answered at the same time.

Minato nodded smiling and dismissed them. He only hoped that everything went well. But all three were strong and Kakashi was S-ranked. There was a reason that he was this team's sensei. Nobody in their right mind would dare attack them if they coincidentally ran across them.

* * *

Naruto, Hinata and Sai fell into a practiced formation behind Kakashi who led the way towards Tea Country. He informed them about the current political situation of the country which was stable, even if in the port town where they would get the supplies for the hospital two rivaling families were fighting for supremacy. It was always decided which family ruled by a traditional race which would be held a month after the chunin exams in Konoha. The journey to Tea country took about six hours by shinobi speed. Inside the country they used a route that had been cleared for shinobi travel by the Tea Daimyo. It was simply easier. Kakashi registered his team at the border to make sure nobody would give them problems. While Tea Country was an ally of Konoha and Fire Country, procedures had to be followed to avoid stress.

Once they reached the city Kakashi let them set up camp. They did with practiced ease. Kakashi once again was happy how well the academy prepared the students for real shinobi life. During the past two weeks he had taught the three a new jutsu each, drilled them in speed and reflexes, taught them the basics of chakra sensing and went over basic mission skills. They would be ready to face whatever a mission such as this could throw at them. And medical deliveries in times of peace weren't normal targets for other shinobis. Bandits were more likely to be interested in them, therefore shinobi were tasked to collect them.

The dinner consisted of rice with vegetables and fish that Sai had caught. Naruto didn't like hunting because he could understand the animals. It had been a problem at first, but as long as he didn't have to kill animals himself he could live with it. Fishing was normally the only way he could procure formerly living food as he couldn't hear the fishes underwater. He still didn't like it and normally left that chore to Sai or Hinata. The two had no problems with it. Naruto took the job of collecting wood normally or setting up camp.

* * *

At nine the next morning they broke up their camp to go to the harbor. They would wait for the ship to arrive and then quickly check their delivery. It was normal procedure, knowing that greedy folk was normal at harbors. They would try and take some parts of deliveries and exchange it for lower quality goods. Minato knew that Captain Muramau would never cheat Konoha, but he couldn't guarantee it for the workers in the harbor. So he ensured that each time a new delivery was coming a Konoha team was already present when the ship came into the harbor. Even a genin team would easily be able to deal with this kind of mission.

Finally Kakashi spotted the ship coming in and informed his students about it. The sailors stirred the ship to an anchoring place and tied it to the poles on the docks. Then the captain walked down, barking instructions at his subordinates who quickly set to follow his orders.

"Now if that isn't little Kakashi Hatake. Good to see you again." The captain said.

"Nice to see you again too, Captain Muramau. It's been a long time." Kakashi greeted with an eye smile.

"That's true. I think you were a chunin when I last saw you and your teammates were only genin. It must have at least been over fifteen years now. How is your sensei doing? I heard he came back from the dead." Captain Muramau asked.

"He is well and sends his best wishes." Kakashi replied.

"Good to hear, now let's see your team. What are their specialties? Nowadays your Konoha genin are really good. I was surprised when I met the first team that graduated under your new program. I didn't want to believe that they were fresh genin, the behaved like veteran genin ready to take the chunin exams." The captain commented.

"Sure, well, let's do this from left to right. That's Sai and he specializes in long-range ninjutsu and genjutsu, next is Hinata Hyuga who naturally trains in juuken and also is good with medical jutsus, last is Naruto Namikaze with a focus on ninjutsu and fuinjutsu." Kakashi introduced them and they bowed politely.

"Well, you definitely look a lot like your father, Naruto. That hair is unforgettable. I'll keep an eye and an ear out to see if you can become as famous as he is." Muramau said.

"I will work hard on it, captain." Naruto said.

"I'm sure you will. Now let's get to your job. The crates are in storage room 4 Kakashi. All in all there are seventeen crates this time." Captain Muramau told them. "I also have overheard some interesting rumors."

"Why don't we go to your office to talk about said rumors and let my students seal up the crates. Hinata, you know what to look for." Kakashi said.

"Understood, Kakashi sensei." Hinata said.

"The storage room is on the left when you go under deck." Captain Muramau informed them and got nods from all three.

They quickly went down while Kakashi and the captain went to his office.

"So what kind of rumors did you hear captain? You wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't important." Kakashi asked.

"The first concerns a group of shinobi mercenaries. I heard that many villages use them for high level missions to save money. You know keeping high level shinobi is costly and this group offers a good alternative. Now only the big villages can afford to train ninjas up to A and S rank. With Konoha being the one with most S rank ninjas in its ranks. Other villages are getting envious of your strength and will try to undermine it, probably using the mercenary group. The second one is that Wave Country could be in trouble. There has been a change in power over the shipping business by Gato of Gato Enterprises. The man is known as a ruthless businessman. It must have happened some time ago, because before we could approach Wave really easily. Nowadays they have tighter security and all business is done solely by Gato's ships. We only heard about it because others that formerly got jobs from the Wave Daimyo didn't get new contracts since a year ago." Muramau told Kakashi.

"That could be a problem. We don't need a crime lord at our borders. While Wave isn't big, it's strategically well-positioned. I will tell the Hokage about this. Thank you for the information." Kakashi said.

"No problem. I'm loyal to Konoha and Fire Country. I don't fancy seeing a new war soon. It's better if conflicts can be kept to a limited dimension." Captain Muramau said.

Kakashi only nodded. His sensei had a similar opinion. While ninjas were trained to fight, in a war too many died uselessly. When Kakashi returned to his team they were already done with sealing the delivered good in sealing scrolls. They were all invited by Captain Muramau to lunch and got to listen to some stories about the things he had seen during his long years as a sailor, especially one that was employed by Konoha for decades. The young genin listened with rapt attention when he described encounters with Kiri ninjas, pirates, the occasional Kumo ninja and the natural dangers the sea posed. None of the three knew much about sailing, but they were fascinated by the stories. Finally after an hour they bid the captain goodbye to return to Konoha. Kakashi knew that meeting Captain Muramau was something of a passage rite with genin in Konoha. It was like catching Tora had been in his genin times. And yes, the cat had been alive back then too. He was really glad that Naruto had tamed her. If you hadn't met Captain Muramau you had missed an important part in your training.

* * *

Kushina was scouting the hideout she had been told was used by one of Orochimaru's subordinates. Kami Sama had tasked her with first going after the Snake Sannin. Shinigami Sama was more than annoyed that the man had developed a jutsu that deprived him of his rightful price of collecting his soul after dying. And Orochimaru should have died twice already. But to kill him and drag him back to the afterlife Kushina needed a bit more information about his plans and when there would be a good opportunity to strike against him. Even in Kami Sama's domain you didn't get to know everything that was going on at Earth. There was a reason after all that warrior angels were sent to deal with the worst problems that the living most of the times didn't manage to take care of themselves. Not that people knew about that. The angels were disguised as humans after all.

This hideout was underground and built to defend against intruders. The long spiraling path to the center gave the inhabitants more than enough time to stop any incoming attack if it was spotted. Thankfully an angel could turn invisible with a thought. She just had to suppress her chakra and she wouldn't be noticed except somebody ran into her. But that was really improbable. There didn't seem to be many people living here. Most of the rooms she had looked into with a special jutsu that Aohoshi had taught her had been empty. Perhaps one in fifty was occupied. This base didn't seem very important right now, but perhaps she could find better information in the center. It took over an hour to get there while checking each room by touching the door with her hand, turning it see-through with her touch.

The main archive of the base was really interesting. She used one of Kami Sama's administration techniques to duplicate all the scrolls and papers without having to touch them in any way. This way she could later look through them when she had more time. And nobody would suspect that an enemy could have this information, which would mean procedures wouldn't be changed before it was deemed necessary. And strong security measures took time to come up with. As far as she knew Orochimaru didn't have access to really unique sealing techniques. He was knowledgeable, but nowhere near the level an Uzumaki or a Namikaze would be. When she was done, she silently went back to the entrance, only to stop at a room she hadn't noticed before. She decided to quickly look inside.

Through the door she could see that there were two children in the room. A girl and a boy. They looked frightened. She decided that the children couldn't stay here, not with that monster Orochimaru. But how to do it without alarming anybody? She was sure that there were alarms connected to the doors. She only got away so far because she didn't open the doors. And she wasn't an earth element, so she couldn't just glide through the walls. But who said a seal mistress like her needed to be one? She quickly drew some seals on the door and a hole appeared. She quickly went inside, knocked the two children out with a senbon to the neck, took a sample of their blood and put the two in sealing scrolls, she could hardly escape dragging two children with her and the scrolls were specially made to transport people in a stasis. Normally it would be used for heavily injured people, but it worked this way too.

Then she put some seals on two left over bowls and put the taken blood onto the seals. The bowls transformed into lookalikes of the two children. It would take some time until anybody managed to notice the difference except they looked closely. And from the state the children were in that couldn't be that often. Perhaps it would be long enough to use the information she got properly. She went back through the hole, let it disappear again and left the base under her invisibility jutsu. Nobody would be any wiser for a long time. Now on to the next location she wanted to investigate before she went to Konoha to surprise her family.

* * *

Back in Konoha Kakashi reported a mostly unproblematic mission. The only part that was worth mentioning was a stupid trio of bandits that thought they could steal from a Konoha team. They had been really drunk in their defense. Normally the bandits by now knew that even fresh genin teams from Konoha were more than a match for normal bandits. Only those bandits with missing ninjas were a problem and dangerous. The number of bandits in Fire Country had massively decreased over the last six years due to the better Konoha teams that regularly went to deal with them. After all, if the genin could already deal with them and there were so many of them, what chance would they have to make profit in their careers? None, that was the answer. But some were too stupid to realize that.

Minato listened to the report and nodded at the performance that Kakashi described that his team had shown. It was perfect given the situation. They had dealt with the bandits quickly and sealed them up in prisoner scrolls after tying them up. Now Minato had the scrolls on his desk and would either hand them over to Ibiki for information gathering or if they had a bounty on their heads, first let Ibiki interrogate them and then turn them over to the respective authorities to collect the bounties. If they didn't have bounties they would get seals placed on them and be sent to work in the many farming areas of Konoha. Or for the really evil ones the mines. Danzo had been the one to suggest that letting the bandits work off their sentences was more profitable than having to keep them in prison and pay for their food. Minato agreed. It wasn't a well-known practice especially the civilians knew nothing of this.

It was a need to know base and only the highest ranking ninjas that worked in the area were informed. Civilians would start protesting that Konoha practiced slavery, a practice that had been outlawed long ago, but Minato had a different opinion. If they broke the law like the bandits did and hurt citizens of Fire Country, he as the head of the ninja village had the right to ensure they wouldn't do it again. And working a few years depending on the severity of their crime was more than appropriate. Danzo's ROOT seals ensured that those that were released never talked about this. While the teams wondered why they had to capture all bandits alive nowadays they figured it was for information gathering. After all, bandits got into places ninjas normally didn't.

"Good work, team fifteen. I will make sure T & I gets us all the information these bandits have. Your payment will be transferred to your accounts. Your time for the mission was also very good considering you had to deal with them. I will remark that in your files." Minato complimented the team.

"Thank you, Hokage Sama/ Dad." The genin said.

"Okay, that's all for now. You can get a new mission in three days. You are dismissed. Kakashi, please stay." Minato said and the genin bowed and left the room.

"What did you want to talk about, sensei?" Kakashi asked.

"What, can't I simply want to know more about my son's first mission outside the village?" Minato protested.

"You will ask Naruto tonight when you are back at home anyway, so that can't be the reason you held me back." Kakashi countered.

"Mah, you're no fun, Kakashi." Minato mock pouted and then turned serious. "There have been reports about that new village in Rice Country, Oto."

"What kind of reports?" Kakashi asked.

"Nothing much. They are a new village and only a few teams have been noticed taking missions. But strangely some missing nins that went to Rice Country didn't leave again. That could mean that somebody lets missing nins stay there. As we share a border with Rice Country at the Valley of the End, I am ordering more border patrols. I am informing all the jonin of this to avoid our genin teams getting into too much trouble." Minato explained. "As long as we don't have better information we will keep it to increased alertness. The chunin exams will be hosted by us next time. I suspect that Oto will apply to be allowed to participate with at least one team."

"I will keep my eyes open. What kind of village insignia do they use?" Kakashi asked.

"A musical note. For now the village will be classified as 'Approach with Caution'. Inform your students about this fact please." Minato instructed Kakashi.

"I will sensei." Kakashi said.

"Alright, get some rest and come over for dinner tomorrow." Minato told Kakashi.

"Who will cook?" Kakashi asked wearily.

"Naruto will. Mum first wanted to, but he managed to talk her out of that idea. And you know Naruto is a fairly good cook." Minato said shuddering at the thought of his mother Tsunade's cooking.

"I will be there." Kakashi promised and left the office.

* * *

**That's it for now. I am working on the next chapters. Until then.**


End file.
